Holy Crap, I'm A Power Ranger?
by xonexmorexnobodyx
Summary: Emma is a mormal teenage girl-until Necrolai drags her into a different world and wants her iPod? There's gotta be more to it than that. Find out in Emma's misadventures in the Power Ranger world!
1. Chapter 1

Necrolai rubbed her hands together in anticipation of what she was about to do. Before her now, was a portal leading into another dimension…where she would find it. Yes, where she would find the one thing that everyone had failed to capture, conquer, or destroy – and with the borrowed power of the Master's, she could draw it into the Underworld and finally use it to raise the Master!

"Do not fail the Master, hag," Koragg barked, as he finished the last part of the spell to the portal.

Necrolai let out a dry laugh.

"When I return, you will no longer be Master's favorite, Koragg," She said haughtily, flipping her 'hair' over her shoulder, and quickly flew through the portal to capture what she needed before Koragg could say another word.

_Emma's P.O.V._

I sighed, and ran my hands through my hair before closing the register with a soft click and locking it.

_Who knew it could be so stressful to work at Starbucks?_

I quickly picked up my black backpack I used for school (and to carry around everything else, for that matter), and threw my hoodie on, happy to feel the warmth and comfy-ness that it offered.

Stepping out of the store, I was met by the wind of a dark October night and an empty street. I turned to lock the door behind me, and as I turned my back to the street, was aware of a shadow that fell across me.

I quickly took my pepper spray out of my bag and whipped around, hiding it behind my back for now.

"Hello there," The thing in front of me said. I came to the conclusion that it was female from its voice, and that it was definitely weird. Don't get me wrong, I wear black all the time…but you don't see me popping up out of nowhere wearing fangs, now do you? And please, aren't the bat wings a little too … bulky?

"Umm…..hi," I answered it, "Sorry…but…umm…we're closed," I indicated to the store behind me.

"We re-open at four, though," I said, and the thing in front of me crossed her arms in a snooty kind of way.

"That's not what I'm here for," She barked at me, and I jumped at her voice. Wow, either she smoked a LOT, or her voice was just naturally scratchy like that.

"I'm here for The Storm, now hand it over!" She barked at me, and held her hand out, as if she wanted something from me.

I looked at her incredulously. What the hell was this lady talking about?

I slowly stepped around her, giving her the 'you're-a-weirdo-stay-away-from-me' look.

"Umm, I have no idea what you're talking about ma'am," I started slowly, coming to a halt and facing her, "But I do think that there's a drug dealer down the street, if that's what you're looking for,"

She growled lowly and turned to face me.

"Don't play games with me! Give me what I came for, or perish!" She yelled, and started to chant something in a weird language.

I stared at her. Yep, she was definitely crazy. I turned around and began to walk away quickly.

"Nice meeting you, bye!" I yelled over my shoulder quickly, and broke out into a full sprint.

Suddenly, I saw a dark purple symbol in front of me on the ground, and I skidded to a halt. What the-

"Arrrgh!" The crazy lady yelled, as I felt something sharp dig into my shoulders and was lifted off the ground and carried into the giant symbol thingy.

Darkness blinded my vision for a moment before it returned, and I found myself above a clearing surrounded by forest.

I twisted and turned, but the things driving into my shoulders just drew deeper.

"Damn it, bitch, put me down!" I yelled at the bat thing angrily.

"Of course!" She spat back just as angrily, and threw me to the ground.

I let out a small yelp of pain as I landed on my shoulder and the wind was knocked out of me.

Coughing, I managed to stand up with my hands on my knees.

With a thud, the stupid bat lady landed in front of me.

"Now are you ready to give it to me?" She yelled, and I glared at her from my doubled-over position.

"Listen lady, first off, you don't need to yell. I'm right here, and I can hear you just fine," I stated calmly and firmly, standing up fully, "And second, I don't know what this 'Storm' of yours is, but I don't have it."

She growled at me loudly.

"Fine," She said, as I watched dark purple light gather up in her hands, " I'll just have to take it myself!"

She pushed her arms forward, sending the light towards me at a fast pace.

Panicking, I looked around for something to help me. Finding nothing, I squeezed my eyes shut….

Nothing happened. Confused, I opened my eyes, and found myself sitting on a bench in a city. Skeptical, I looked around. Streets, people, stores, and no bitchy-bat thing. What the hell was going on?

Sighing in frustration, I quickly put my pepper spray back in my bag and took out my drawing pad and a pencil.

_Damn, I'm an idiot…why didn't I use the f*cking pepper spray?_

I opened it up to a new page and began to draw, not really caring what came out. I just draw whenever I'm upset of confused, and I don't really tend to care a lot what comes out.

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw a man come out of the store I was sitting in front of, and ran his fingers through his curly hair stressfully.

He sat down on the bench next to me, and buried his face in his hands.

Trying my best to ignore him, I kept drawing.

_Great what the hell am I gonna do now? I'm only-Lord-knows-where and I have no means of transportation, money, shelter , food-_

"Excuse me?" I heard the man say next to me, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I turned to him.

"Yeah?" I asked uncertainly, not sure of whom to trust anymore.

"You drew that?" He asked, and gestured to the drawing pad in my lap. I looked down at it, and saw the weirdest thing I have ever drawn.

It was an electric guitar with the devil's face etched into it, with wings behind it that turned into flames at the tips of the feathers.

"Yeah, I did," I said slowly.

He smiled widely and enthusiastically.

"Hey! Would you work for me?" He said, gesturing to himself then the shop we were sitting in front of.

I looked up at the sign above the entrance.

"'The Rock Porium'?" I said out loud.

"Yeah! We need someone with artistic talent like yours to make murals on the walls and design signs, not to mention it would be helpful to have another hand around," He explained, and I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do? This better than McDonalds.

"Sure," I said, and he smiled widely, jumping up.

"Great! What's ya name?" He asked, as he grabbed my wrist ad led me into the shop full of records, CDs, and all types of music.

"Emma Bell," I said, as he threw a purple shirt at me over his shoulder and turned around with his hand out.

"I'm Toby, store owner," He said, as he took my hoodie off of me along with my backpack, and set them by the coatrack.

"You can start right away!" He exclaimed excitedly, as he propelled me out the door, and towards a blank wall on the side of the store. At the base of the wall was all types of paints and brushes, along with a smock and a ladder.

"I need this done by 3, okay Em?" He asked, and I nodded. This must've been what he was so stressed out about, poor guy.

"Thanks again, and good luck!" He yelled to me as he ran around the corner and back into the shop.

I sighed and shook my head, taking out my iPod and setting it to my favorite rock playlist - gotta be in the rock mood, ya know.

Right now, It was about 8 in the morning, so I had roughly 7 hours to paint this thing. Sighing, I put the apron on and climbed the ladder to begin painting.

_6 hours later_

I wiped my hands on my apron, satisfied with my work.

In front of everything going in the mural, 'Rock Porium" Was painted in orange graffiti, and in the back ground was a little bit of every song I had listened to. I drew a weird type of cartoon castle from the song 'Disneyland', a street going into the moon from the song 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', I did an ACDC sign from the many songs I had listened to from them, and lots of other tidbits.

I finally stepped down off the ladder, ad threw away all the empty paint cans….which was all of them. I took off my apron and shirt Toby had given me (I had a black tank top on underneath, with some grey motorcycle on it) and set them down next to the ladder.

Smiling, I stepped around the corner, only to see an old man across the street, saying something about help.

I quickly crossed the street to see what his problem was.

"Would somebody help me?" He asked desperately, his old voice cracking, "My brother was lost in the forest, and I need help to find him!"

A disapproving murmur went through the crowd, and My brow furrowed. How could people not help him?

"I'll help you," I said casually, and heard gasps from the crowd. I looked at them all weirdly. What the hell was their issue?

"Me too," I heard a male voice from behind me, and turned to see a boy my age with dark hair and dark skin, on a motorcycle. He quickly got off of it, and walked towards me and the old man. Another murmur rippled through the crowd.

"You're not from around here, are you mate?" An Australian accent said from the corner of the crowd, and and I turned to face him.

"Nope," He answered, and I shook my head.

The boy stepped forward, and I could see he had brown hair, matching eyes, ad an attitude that screamed 'full-of-myself'.

"Nobody goes in there," He started, and a small smirk entered my face from his accent, "Because nobody comes out,"

"I'll go with you," A girl behind him said, stepping forward. She had a sort of pixie cut and a punk attitude, that much I could tell as she walked forward to join me and .

"Me too!" A tall, red-headed boy exclaimed, a smile spread over his face as he bounded towards us.

"I've always wanted to go on a dangerous quest!" He exclaimed, and I looked at him oddly. Wow, this kid was a weirdo.

The girl standing next to Aussie sighed and walked towards us.

"I'm sticking with my sister," She stated, and motioned to Aussie to come along.

"Come on, Xander," She said, as the old man led us into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2

We walked through the forest, and Aussie spoke up.

"I don't think I've see you around before," He said to Mr. Motorcycle, "I'm Xander Bly, and this is Vida, Chip, and Madison."

"Nick," Mr. Motorcycle said plainly, and looked over to me, "How 'bout you?"

"Emma," I stated, just as plainly as Nick, but with a small smile.

"You're the new employee that Toby keeps going on about!" Chip exclaimed.

I let out a dry chuckle.

"Yeah, he hired me this morning," I stated, thinking of how he put me to work right away.

Suddenly, Madison stopped walking.

"Where'd the old man go?" She asked, as we looked around – the old man was nowhere in sight, and we were already lost.

"Great!" Vida exclaimed sarcastically, "5 minutes in the forest and we're already lost!"

Suddenly, we saw the bushes around us shake, and upon instinct, backed up. Out of the bushes jumped these weird …. Things. I don't even know how to explain them. They had cloth wrapped around their head and wore brown clothing…. Oh, and did I mention that they had weapons?

All at the same time, they charged at us, and I was the first to take action. I ducked under one's blade quickly, picked up a large stick, and tossed it to Chip to use as a weapon .

"Chip!" I yelled, and he acknowledged me and caught his weapon.

I grabbed another one, and used it to block another thing's blade above my head. Quickly, the monster thing kicked me in the ribs and I flew back into a tree, hitting my already injured shoulder that I had forgotten about until know. I quickly tried to right myself, and threw the stick towards Madison.

"Madison!" I yelled, just before ducking below a punch aimed for my face. I kicked my leg out to the creature and hit it in the knees, knocking it over. I picked up it's weapon, and stabbed it in the chest. It squirmed for a moment before turning in to ashes. I looked at the sword in my hand curiously. That's weird-

"Move!" Someone yelled to me, and I whipped around to see about 3 more of those things charging towards me. I quickly ran towards them, and blocked the first one's weapon, and kicked it in the chest to send it to the ground.

I jumped as the next one swung it's sword at my feet, then blocked it as it swung towards my abdomen. Thinking quickly, I kicked that one right in the balls, and it went down with a groan.

I smirked. Maybe I wasn't half bad at this!

I heard pounding footsteps behind me, and turned around just in time to see another thing charge towards me, but I couldn't block it. It punched me right on the collar bone, and I was sent flying into a heap of the other teen agers.

Coughing, I desperately tried to get air in my lungs. Damn, who knew a blow to the collar bone could do something like this to you?

Putting a hand over the throbbing part of my chest, I sat up and saw a dark, hooded figure raise their arms above their head just in time to send the new wave of monsters rushing at us up in flames.

Managing to kneel and look up at the figure, they pulled their hood down to reveal a middle-aged woman with red hair.

I looked at her skeptically. Who was this lady?

I didn't have time to ask, though, as another wave of about 15 things came at us from nowhere! I growled, frustrated and angry with this shit. I jumped up, despite the throbbing of my chest and shoulder, and attacked the one nearest to me.

"If you want to win, you have to believe in magic!" I heard the old lady shout, and I rolled my eyes mentally.

"To hell if I believe in magic," I growled lowly as I faced the things in front of me, but suddenly, they went up in fire.

I growled under my breath. It was that damn cloak lady again, butting in when no one asked her to. I could've handled that myself.

I turned to see Chip kicking some major ass with this lightning bolt thing.

Surprised, I turned to Madison. She was sending waves of water at her attackers!

And looking at Vida, she was using some sort of wind power, and Xander was using vines to crush his enemies.

Next, I looked over to Nick to see him… getting his ass whooped.

Quickly, I ran towards him, just in time to watch him get hurled against a tree. nThe remaining monster charged at him, and Nick didn't move from his position on the ground.

Quickening my pace to intercept the monster, I leapt at it, crashing into it fully with my previously injured shoulder.

The monster turned into ash, and I tumbled to the ground with a thud. I winced at the pain that throbbed continuously through my shoulder and color bone area. I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, but it only worsened the pain in my chest.

"Ugh….." I let out a small noise of pain, and I heard footsteps come towards me.

"Emma!" Came the voice of Madison, as her and Xander helped me stand.

I gripped my badly injured arm with my not so badly injured one, and started to sway.

"Woah," Xander said, putting a hand on my hip and opposite shoulder to steady me, "Easy there, mate,"

I could've busted out laughing at his accent, but was too tired at the moment.

"Thanks," I managed to get out in a slightly raspy voice.

Across from us, Chip and Vida helped Nick up as he clutched his side in pain. He looked up at me, his bright eyes meeting my dull grey ones.

"Thanks," He said, voice strained with pain.

I did my best to smile, but it most likely came out as more of a grimace.

"No problem," I replied, my voice equally strained from the pain in my chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the cloak lady approach us.

I snapped my head towards her upon instinct, ready to fight again, but the sudden movement sent a shock of pain through my chest.

She stopped in front of all of us, and looked from Nick, to me.

"You did not use magic," She stated, staring fixatedly at me.

I glared at her.

"Was I supposed to?"

She stared at me incredulously, like I had just asked the stupidest question ever.

"Yes, you were!" She exclaimed disapprovingly, shaking her head.

I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying something I would regret.

"And you also," She stated, looking at Nick.

Now it was his turn to look at her like she was a freak.

"Excuse me for not believing in fairy tales," He stated, still clutching his abdomen, slightly hunched over.

Cloak-lady didn't reply to that, but instead began to walk away. We all stared after her.

"Come along," She threw over her shoulder, and we all gave each other looks, but followed after her anyways.

As we walked, the pain in my collar bone and shoulder worsened, and pain began to work it's way into my ribs.

Out of the corner of my vision, I could see Nick grimace in pain, and could only guess that he was in the same situation as I.

Walking a little farther, we reached a giant tree with what looked like a dragons head at the base.

Suddenly, two red eyes glowed on either side of the head, and the jaw opened.

Cloak-lady entered, and we all filed in.


	3. Chapter 3

In side, we were met with a rather bizarre scene. It was definitely the trunk of a tree we were in, but the place was littered with candles, and a bunch of the same 5 symbols. Scattered around was also books and vials with only lord knows what in them.

"Woah, cool!" Chip exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes at him and his nerdy-ness.

"I am the sorceress Udonna," Cloak lady said, and she leaned on the table in front of her. Right now, I didn't care if she was Binladin back from the dead, I just wanted to keel over from this pain!

"When you stepped into these woods, you stepped into a magical dimension," She began, but was cut off by Chip.

"A parallel dimension outside of Briarwood?," He exclaimed, "Do we live in a cool city or what?"

"A few years ago," She restarted, "There was a great battle in our world. Dark magic conquered our realm, and was about to enter your dimension when we finally defeated them, and sent them back to the underworld….but at a great cost. The gate was sealed with a powerfull spell, but a crack has appeared in the gates during the recent earthquake, and evil has slipped through…"

It was quiet for a moment, and I looked at this lady with a bored-and-unbelieving-as-hell look.

"Hi. I'm Xander," Xander said as he stepped forward, "If you don't mind me asking, what does this have to do with us?"

She looked at him, and turned her back to us.

"It could be the end for both our worlds," She stated.

"Please," Nicks voice rang out, pain etched into his every word, "None of us are buying this fairy tale,"

"This is not a fairy tale!" She exclaimed, and turned to face us once more, "What I told you is what happened,"

Nick scoffed as best he could at her.

"Hey," Vida said, "Let's hear what she has to say. We can always leave after that,"

Udonna ascended several steps to a platform, and stood in front of a podium like thing.

"This is the Xenotome-the book of the unknown," She said, running her hands over the book's rough pages, "In it, is everything we do not know,"

Slowly, we all followed her up onto the platform.

"What kind of language is that?" Madison asked curiously, looking intently at the book.

"It is the language of the Ancients," Udonna replied, "You will soon learn it. It says, that when evil rises again, five mystical warriors from the human realm will step forward. You are those warriors. You….are the power rangers."

"Oh, nice!" Chip exclaimed, excitement dripping from his voice and a huge smile spread across his face.

"Excuse me, but there must be some mistake," Xander started, "How exactly are we supposed to defeat pure evil? Our high school hasn't even won a football game, in like, 6 years,"

Udonna Picked something up off the table next to the Xenotome, and passed them to Xander, Madison, Vida, Chip, then Nick .

"These are your magic wands," She stated, and I gave her the I-don't-believe-you look. Was this lady some crazy shit, or what?

"Never go anywhere without them," She finished.

Suddenly, we all heard footsteps coming from an adjoining hallway.

"Udonna!" A female voice called out, "Udonna! I need to speak with you,"

A girl roughly our age ran into the room, and slid into a halt in front of Udonna, but stopped short when she saw the rest of us.

"Oh, hello," She said awkwardly, then whispered something indistinct to Udonna.

Udonna leaned away from the other girl, and looked at the rest of us.

"Stay here, and don't go into the woods alone," She said, but not before chanting something in a weird language. Then, with a snap of her fingers, she disappeared.

The girl looked at where Udonna was just standing, and snapped her fingers expectantly…..nothing happened.

"Oh," She started dejectedly, "I practice and I practice, but what do I get?" She snapped her fingers again, "Nothing!...Oh, hi!" She said, as soon as she noticed us standing there, "I'm Clare! Sorceress in training here at root core, nice to meet you!"

She went down the line of us, shaking each of us by hand. Suddenly, a confused look crossed her face, and she stepped, and seemed to be counting something off on her fingers.

"Wait, the legend tells of 5 rangers…..not 6," She stated, and everyone turned to look at me.

I looked at them indifferently.

"What?" I asked, trying not to let on to the pain I was in at the moment.

"You're not a ranger," Chip said as he pointed his wand at me.

I shrugged at him, but winced at the pain that it put my shoulders through.

"I guess not," I stated. Why is it such a big deal?

Clare stared at me wide-eyed, "You couldn't have come through to this dimension unless you were a power ranger!" She exclaimed, and I looked at her confused.

"So….," I started, and looked around to everyone else, "What does that make me?"

"A power ranger without powers?" Vida suggested uncertainly.

"Or maybe since you were with us, you could come through," Madison suggested, and I sighed, and ran a hand through my dirty blonde hair.

"I don't know," Nick stated, and set his wand back down on the Xenotome, "But I'm out of here,"

He walked back out to the door, but as soon as he touched, a small shock met his fingers.

He growled, and stalked back into the room.

"Udonna put a wall around us so we can't get out!" He said angrily, and leaned on the table in the center of the room.

I sighed, and sat down on the steps. It eased the pain in my ribs and chest, but the pulsing sting in my shoulder wouldn't stop. I gripped it tightly with my free arm, in hopes to make the pain go away, even though I knew it wouldn't.

We sat there for a few minutes, and what felt like hours to me, until a flurry of snow appeared out of nowhere, and Udonna formed out of it.

"Now, where were we?" She asked pleasantly, and I hauled myself up with the help of the railing, but couldn't bring myself to walk. Why won't this pain go away?

Apparently, Udonna had noticed my pain, and approached me.

"You are in pain, child?" She asked calmly, and I glared at her.

"No," I managed to get out through a clenched jaw, but Udonna saw right through me.

"Come, child," She said with concern, "Help her and Nick over here, "

Udonna walked to a cabinet at the far end of the room, gathered several things, then went to the table in the center of the room.

Chip and Madison were immediately by my side.

"Guys, really," I managed through clenched teeth ," I'm fine,"

Without acknowledging my words, they both dragged me over to the table.

Nick was already sitting on it, and Udonna motioned for me to sit on the table also.

With a lot of effort, I managed to pull myself up on the table, and slumped over in pain.

"Udonna," I said, finding it harder and harder not to let my voice crack, "It's not a big deal. It's a scratch,"

"Emma, you're hurt," Nick stated from next to me, and I turned to do my best to glare at him, "Let Udonna help you or it will only get worse,"

I Mumbled a few choice words under my breath, before nodding my head at Udonna.

_This is gonna hurt like shit…._


	4. Chapter 4

I let out a loud yelp of pain, as Udonna slid the strap of my tank top down on my left shoulder to reveal a very nasty bruise and 4 puncture wounds. Three on the front of my shoulder, and one on the back.

I clenched my teeth in pain as she put some funny smelling liquid on it, that also happened to hurt like hell. Then, she patiently took out a roll of bandages, and wrapped it gently.

She pulled the strap of my tank top back up, and moved to my extremely injured shoulder.

I gripped the edge of the round table tightly, as she slid the strap down slowly, almost agonizingly. Udonna stopped, and a chorus of 'Ooooh' s and 'ouch'es went through the room.

Udonna said a spell quietly, and touched a finger lightly to my shoulder. That alone made me want to whimper in pain, but I refrained from doing so.

A white aura surrounded my shoulder, and Udonna pulled her hand back after a few seconds.

I looked at her expectantly.

"Well?" I asked, my voice laced with pain.

Udonna sighed.

"My child, I don't know how you did it, but you have four more puncture wounds, a bruise that's going to take a month to heal, and a dislocated shoulder," She said, and another chorus of 'ooooh' s and 'ouch' es went through the room.

"Can you do anything?" I growled. It's not like it didn't hurt!

Udonna looked at Clare uncertainly, and Clare nodded.

"Emma," Udonna spoke, "Close your eyes,"

I growled, but did so none the less. What the hell was she doing? I didn't want to play hide-and-seek, I wanted to-

CRACK!

Excruciating pain rippled through my shoulder, and I gripped the edge of the table even tighter than before. I wanted to scream out in pain, but didn't, even though a small whimper of pain escaped my lips before I could stop it.

"Udonna, what did you just do?" I could hear Nick yell in panic as I squeezed my eyes shut in pain.

Udonna began to apply the smelly stuff again, and it added onto the previous pain, making it almost unbearable.

"I popped her shoulder back into place," Udonna said calmly, as she finished with the smelly stuff and began to wrap my right shoulder gently, "Clare, fetch the sling for me, would you?"

Clare nodded, and scrambled away to get the sling.

"Wouldn't that, like, hurt a lot though?" Chip asked, and I opened my eyes to glare at him. He shrunk back in fear and surprise.

"I'll take that as a yes," Madison said, with a small smile to her face that made me feel a little better.

Soon, Clare came back with the sling, and Udonna helped me put it on. It was just a simple black sling, and kind of comfortable.

"What else hurts?" Udonna asked, and I looked at her uncomfortably. I felt bad for getting into so much trouble that Udonna had to patch me up. That's why I didn't want to tell her in the first place, anyways.

"Emma," She said in a dangerously low tone, as if she was reading my thoughts.

I looked away sheepishly.

"I got punched in the collar bone," I managed in a meek voice.

I saw Vida grimace out of the corner of my eye.

Udonna inhaled sharply, and turned my head to face her. Slowly, she said the same spell she used on my right shoulder and gently touched my collar bone.

I closed my eyes tightly, and gripped onto the table tightly. This hurt worse that my shoulder!

As soon as Udonna was done, I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

"Is it broken? Sprained? What?" Vida asked impatiently.

Udonna got the roll of bandages out.

"It's definitely broken," She stated, and I sighed. Will I ever stop getting broken?

Udonna slid the straps of my tank top down my shoulders again, and began to wind the bandages around my collar bone area, running them diagonally and horizontally across my broken bone.

I shut my eyes tightly, and winced every time I felt her touch my skin, but other than that made no indication that I was in extreme pain.

After what seemed like an hour, Udonna was finally done wrapping my collar bone, and said a healing spell over it for good measure.

Not all of the pain was washed away, but some of it was, and that made it a little more bearable….. but now, I was more aware of the pain in my ribs.

Udonna looked up at me as I whimpered in pain again.

"What is it now?" She asked patiently.

I shook my head slightly, so as not to cause myself any more pain.

"Help Nick first," I stated, and she nodded, and moved towards Nick.

I looked up at everyone else.

"How about you guys?" I managed to get out, without whimpering in pain.

"Emma," Vida stated calmly, "We're fine,"

I looked up at her, playfulness dotting my eyes.

"I'll kick your ass if you're lying to me," I stated with a partial smirk, and Vida smirked back.

"Ugh…." I heard the person next to me mutter, and my attention turned to Nick, who was having Udonna look at ribs. Dark purple bruises covered his entire left side of ribs, and I visually grimaced at the sight of it.

_That must've hurt like hell…._

Udonna finished wrapping the bandages around his torso, and said the healing spell to ease the pain.

I heard Nick sigh under his breath, as he let his shirt fall back down.

Udonna then moved to me, and I shrunk away from her slightly. What was this woman gonna do now?

"I do believe we had a deal," She stated matter-of-factly, and I sighed in defeat. Feeling extremely self –conscious, I lifted my shirt ever so slightly to reveal ribs littered with bruises.

I looked up at Udonna, and let out a nervous laugh. She stared at me and raised an eyebrow, giving me the you're-so-guilty look.

Quickly she bandaged my torso too, and used the healing spell to ease the pain. She stood back, and looked at me and Nick, apparently satisfied with her work.

"There, you're all patched up," Udonna said with a satisfied smile, and gathered the items she took out of the cabinet to return them.

"I feel like a damn rag doll," I mumbled, and Nick laughed.

"You shouldn't get yourself so beat up out there," He said with a smile, teasing me.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"I know, but someone had to save your sorry ass," I stated, as I slid off the table and stood, using the table as support.

Nick quickly jumped off the table also, but with much less effort.

I began to walk towards the door, and Nick stepped in front of me, blocking my only exit.

"Whoa, there shorty," He teased, and I noticed finally how short I was compared to him, "Where do you think you're going?"

I glared at him playfully.

"I'm going back to the porium to get my shit and tell Toby I'm done with my mural, now get outta the way," I stated, trying to move around him.

Before Nick could reply, Udonna beat him to it.

"Emma, dear, in your condition, you shouldn't go anywhere," She stated, and snapped her fingers together. In a small flash of sparkly white stuff, my backpack and hoodie appeared at my feet.

"Here is your…..things," Udonna stated, and I heard a group of muffled snickers behind me, "And all of you will be spending the night here tonight,"


	5. Chapter 5

"Awesome! Sleepover!" Chip yelled excitedly, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I haven't had one of these since I was in third grade," Nick said, putting his hands in his jean pockets.

Suddenly feeling really cold, I retrieved my hoodie from where it was sitting on top of my backpack, and threw it on quickly. Then, I took my back pack and went to the giant oak table in the center of the room to start my Algebra 2 homework.

About halfway through my homework, Xander (everyone was seated at the table) scooted closer to me and looked at my homework.

"What grade are you in, mate?" He asked, as he took my math book from me. I glared at him.

"Tenth," I replied, sliding my book back over to in front of me to finish my homework.

"Oh," He said, "You're in the smart class. That's why I haven't seen you around school,"

I sighed and looked up from my homework.

"No," I began, "Actually, I'm not from around here,"

"Really?" Madison asked curiously, joining the conversation, "Where are you from?"

"Forks," I replied, feeling more social now that I wasn't in extreme pain.

"Forks? Where?" Chip exclaimed, looking around the room.

"No, no, no, I meant Forks, Washington," I replied, and they all gave me incredulous looks.

"Then what are you doing all the way across the country?" Vida asked, and I looked at her curiously.

"Where are we exactly?" I asked to nobody in particular.

"Briarwood, Connecticut," Chip said with a smile.

I put my head on my hand.

"Oh shit…." I mumbled.

"Why don't you tell us exactly what happened?" Madison suggested, and I nodded.

"I was locking up the store I used to work for," I started, "Then this weird lady wearing all black and fangs and had these really nasty bat wings said she wanted this storm thing,"

We all heard something clatter in the background, and I knew Udonna had dropped something. She turned around, and strode towards us.

"Continue," She spoke, and I nodded uncertainly.

"I had no idea what she was talking about, but she picked me up and took me with her into this symbol. She was gonna throw this dark purple shiny stuff at me, and I panicked, but ended up in front of Toby's store," I finished, and looked up at Udonna, "Do you know anything about this?"

Udonna visibly paled, and sat down with us at the table.

"The lady you referred to is Necrolai," She began, "She is a servant of the Underworld."

"And what about this storm she talked about?" Nick spoke up.

Udonna brought her eyes up sharply to meet with mine, "The Storm is an ancient power that was neither good nor evil. Both sides felt threatened by it, and agreed to have it banished away into another dimension,"

Vida put her hands up, "Woah, woah, woah. Couldn't they capture it? Or destroy it?"

Udonna shook her head, "Many tried, but everyone failed. The only people who could harness the power of the Storm was the one chosen by it,"

Everyone looked at me.

"Emma," Udonna started, "The Storm has chosen you…."

I looked at her unbelievingly.

"How could I be chosen for something like that?" I started incredulously, "You saw what happened to me!" I gestured to my beaten up body, "This wouldn't have happened if I could use magic,"

Udonna smiled at me, "You did not believe,"

I scoffed, "Magic doesn't work with me, Udonna. I can't be the chosen one,"

Udonna stood.

"We will see," She said, and stood, walking over to the Xenotome.

"Oh, Emma," Udonna called over to me, "It also says that the carrier of The Storm is…..," She stopped short and snickered.

"What?" I asked curiously, afraid of what she might say.

She looked up at me and smiled.

"It says that she is…foul-mouthed, and good at rummy," She finished, and I blushed.

"That's a bunch of shit," I mumbled, and everyone laughed. Udonna snapped her fingers, and in front of me appeared a deck of playing cards.

"Well," Xander started, "We already know about Emma's language," We all laughed, "Let's see if she can actually play rummy,"

I smirked and put away my homework, then began to shuffle the cards, dealing them out to everyone, then setting the remaining cards in a stack in the center of us all, and finally flipping the card on top right side up.

"Who goes first?" Chip asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Person to the right of the dealer," I answered to him, and he nodded. Madison went first as I set my cards in order.

"So, Emma, Nick, we don't know you guys that well," Madison started, looking between us with a smile, "Tell us about yourself,"

I looked at Nick.

"Nose-goes!" I called, and touched my nose before Nick did. He made a face at me, and I just smiled back at him.

"I'm Nick," He started, "I ride a motorcycle. I'm the red power ranger. There's not a lot more to me,"

"Oh, come on," Madison started, "Tell us something else. What's your favorite color?"

Nick looked at her with a bored look on his face, but replied, "Red, duh,"

"Favorite rock singer of all time?" Chip asked excitedly, drawing a card from the pile, then discarding.

"Jimi," Nick replied, without looking up from his cards, and picked up the three Chip just set down, and discarded a queen of hearts.

"Where ya from?" Xander asked, taking his turn to pick up and discard.

"I don't really know," Nick replied, "I was adopted,"

I nodded. I was adopted, too, but my parents ended up kicking me out of the house as soon as I had a job…. Assholes.

"What about you, Emma?" Chip asked curiously, as I picked up the ace that Xander just set down.

I looked up, "I'm Emma. I used to have a beat up old pick-up truck, and I am not a power ranger, nor am I magical in any way, shape, or form, other than Kicking butt in Rummy," I finished, as I set down three aces, and three kings, then discarding a seven.

Everyone else threw down their cards, and now it was Madison's turn to deal.

"That's not a lot of information," Nick pointed out, and I smirked.

"How 'bout you, Emma?" Chip asked excitedly as Madison shuffled and dealt out the cards, "Who's your favorite rock singer of all time?"

"Singer or band?" I inquired, fixing my cards.

"Both," Chip said eagerly, as Vida drew from the deck of cards, and discarded a king of hearts.

"I can't decide between Rod Stewart or Led Zeppelin, and ACDC or Journey, "I started, "Rummy," I called as Chip drew and set down a ten, jack, and queen, which happened to be a rummy on the king in the discard pile. I quickly slid it over to in front of me.

"I see why Tobi hired you," Vida said with a smile.

"What's your favorite color?" Xander asked.

"Grey," I replied, and earned weird looks from everyone at the table.

"Grey's not a color," Madison said, "It's a shade,"

"It's a neutral color," I said, as Nick took his turn.

"It's a shade of black," Nick said pointedly.

"No, it's a shade of white," Xander argued.

"It's a neutral color," I said calmly, and waited for Xander to finish his turn.

We continued to argue for a few minutes, which consisted of me using several colorful cuss words, and me flipping Xander and Nick off more than once.

"Enough!" Udonna finally said, and we all turned our attention to her, "It depends on how you use the color grey that determines if it's dark or light,"

I glared at the two boys, then ended up letting out a laugh about what just happened.

"What?" Vida asked, and I smiled.

"We just had the biggest argument ever over a damn COLOR," I said, and giggled a little bit, "How are we supposed to kick evil's ass if we can't even cooperate with each other?"

"That's a very valid point," Udonna spoke as she observed the Xenotome, "Now, tomorrow, you are all to go back to the human realms and live out your normal lives until you're needed,"

She waved her hand, and everyone else's wands turned into cell phones.

"I hope these fit your generation's liking," She said with a smile, "Emma, is there something I can do to alert you?"

I looked at her unbelievingly, "Please, Udonna. I don't have magic; I'll just end up getting in the way,"

"Oh, come on," Vida said with a smile, "You can come along for….moral support!"

"Yeah!" Chip exclaimed, and I looked at Udonna hesitantly.

"It's decided then," She said, and waved her hand. My iPod rose out of my backpack, and flew to Udonna's hand.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, as she chanted a small spell over it, and it flew into my hand.

"There," she said with a smile, "It will now alert you to the same things as the power rangers. Now, everybody, off to bed!"

She clapped her hands, and sleeping bags appeared in a circle around the oak table. It wasn't really hard to tell which one was whom's. Vida's was pink, Madison's was blue, Xander's green, Chip's yellow, Nick's red, and mine grey.

We all climbed into them, and Udonna clapped her hands again, and the lights went out.

I yawned, and realized fully how tired I was, and closed my eyes to sleep…..


	6. Chapter 6

I sat up straight, breathing heavily and sweating. My body shivered with the cold, but I felt so overheated. I quickly and quietly scrambled out of my sleeping bag so as not to wake any of the others, and padded softly through the hallways of root core until I found a balcony.

I stepped into the morning air, and breathed deeply. Darkness still coated the sky, and a few stars were still scattered across it, too.

I leaned against the railing, looking over the forest and everything in it. Not a single bird made a sound, and the wind didn't even rustle the leaves of the trees. I let out a quiet sigh, and smiled, feeling extremely comfortable in this atmosphere.

It was like the quiet before the storm.

Suddenly, I wished I had my drawing pad and a black pastel that I always carried around with me, and looked down at the floor of the balcony to see them already there.

Smiling, I picked them up, and opened it to a new page.

_I must've brought it with me on accident…._

I sat there drawing for hours, and when I checked my iPod, it had 2 hours since I had started to draw, and it was now 5:30.

I continued to draw the scene playing out before me, but with my own little twist to it. I drew the forest nearest to where I was sitting dead, and shrouded with darkness, but in the distance, the sun rose and drove away the darkness.

"That's a very pretty picture," Someone said into my ear, and I quickly swung my fist around towards their face, only to have it caught.

Xander smiled at me, in all his pig-headed glory.

"Nice reflexes," He said with a smile that ws, from what I could tell, completely genuine.

_Maybe he isn't so bad after all….._

"Thanks," I responded with a playful smirk, and he let go of my fist, "But in all fairness, I did use my left hand,"

He laughed.

"Yeah, whatever," He said, and motioned inside, "Udonna wants to see us,"

We entered inside, and finally found Udonna and everyone else situated in the main room (a.k.a.-the one with the giant table in it.).

Everyone but me and Udonna was yawning, and looking totally out of it. I laughed at them.

"Does everyone have their morphers?" She asked, and everyone but me nodded, "And other respective devices?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Good," She replied, "Now, off you go, and remember. There is evil everywhere, so you would be best served speaking to no one of what has happened."

"Oh!" Clare spoke up, "I can show them the way out of the forest!"

"No," Udonna said, shaking her head, "They must find their own way," She turned back to us, "The trees are your passage,"

After thanking her and saying good bye, we all entered the forest, and began to walk.

After about 10 minutes of getting nowhere, Chip spoke up.

"The trees are our passage?" He questioned, and approached a tree, "How could a tree be our passage?" He laid his hand on the trunk of the tree, and with a bright light, he was sucked into it! A second later, he exited out of it.

"Whoa! Guys, just touch the tree, and you're flying through branches, roots, and leaves! So cool!" He exclaimed, and I looked at the tree cautiously.

Xander approached the tree, and stood in front of it.

"Just think of the tree in front of the record shop," Chip finished, and I nodded. This better work.

"No, no, no, no. There is no way," Xander started, laying his hand on the trunk of the tree, "That this tree could possibly-"

WHOOSH!

In another bright flash of light, Xander was sucked through the tree.

Quickly, we all followed suit.

Going through the tree, the feeling of my skin peeling off was the only thing that I could think of at the moment. It was like there was something digging under my skin.

In another flash of light, we all tumbled on top of each other on the ground. I groaned as someone landed on my shoulder.

"Easy on the shoulder," I gasped out, and Chip quickly rolled away.

"Sorry Emma," He said, and helped me to my feet.

"Chip, turn around," I said, and he did so, "You have shit all over your back," I brushed all the dirt and grass off his back and shoulders.

He turned around and smiled widely at me.

"Thanks," He said, and began to brush my back off.

"Thanks," I said, and smiled back at him

_Well, that was sort of an awkward friendship moment.. …_

"Hey, uh, guys," We heard a voice say across the street, and we all turned to Toby, "D-did you just…"

We all ran over to his side of the street.

"From that tree?" Toby continued to sputter.

We all gave him looks like he was crazy.

He looked at us funny.

"Nevermind," He finished, and we walked by him into the shop.

"Are you feeling okay?" Vida asked as we walked by, and I suppressed a snicker.

Toby followed us into the shop, his arms crossed.

"Where exactly were you guys yesterday?" He asked, and every one visibly paled.

"W-well….you see, uh…" Xander stuttered, and I finally stepped forward.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner Toby," I started, and searched for an answer, "umm….After I finished the mural, I accidentally fell off the ladder. Everyone else was nice enough to take me to the doctors. We meant to call the store and tell you, but forgot until it was too late and the store had closed,"

I smiled at him innocently, and his face immediately softened.

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions," He said, and I smiled widely at him, "Now who is this?"

I looked to see him pointing at Nick, and once again, we all sputtered for answers.

"I'm an old friend of Emma's," Nick blurted out, "I'm here for the summer and I'm looking for a job, so decided to check here,"

Toby smiled, apparently fooled by our lies.

"We'd be happy to have you along," Toby said, and clapped Nick on the back, "But before you join, I need to know…. What's your favorite song of old time rock? Both of you," He pointed to me and Nick.

"Purple Haze, Jimi Hendricks," Nick said, and turned to me.

"Back in Black, ACDC," I said, and watched Toby's reaction.

"You're hired! And….. Emma, that was an initiation test, you passed!" He said, and threw Nick a shirt, and walked into his office.

We all let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Madi said, and no sooner were the words out of her mouth, did Toby's office door open, and he stormed out. He quickly grabbed me by the wrist, and dragged me outside.

I didn't offer resistance as he dragged me down the alley in which my mural was, and let go of my wrist. Everyone else ran after us, and they all gazed up at the scene on the wall.

Toby pointed to it.

"Do you realize …." He began, and took a breath, "How many compliments you've gotten on this thing? It's amazing!"

I let out another sigh of relief, and heard a murmur of 'wow's and 'holy cow's go through the group of teenagers behind me.

"I'm so proud of you!" Toby exclaimed, and suddenly gave me a hug, then ran inside.

I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

"I feel so damn violated," I mumbled, and heard someone laugh behind me.

"Come on," Madi said with a smile, "Let's get back to work," And she led the way back into the store.

Things were quiet for a few days, and nobody heard anything from Udonna. Toby told me I could live in the apartment above the Rock Porium until I got enough money to get my own apartment. He didn't even ask why I didn't have my own apartment, just offered it right out there.

I think this guy is becoming something of a father to me, possibly the one I never had. Not literally, of course, Lord forbids Toby's my actual dad! But He's just more of the father-type person than anyone I ever met.

Everyone else was beginning to warm up to me, you could say. I was getting use to them and their personalities, too. Madi was more of the shy type, but could be out going if she wanted to be. Vida was just happy if she was behind her tables. Chip…..

…

I cannot tell you how many times I've told him to stop running around the store waving a yard stick around going 'Hyah!' because it will scare the customers. Does he listen? No.

Xander is a real lazy-ass, but other than that he's not so bad. He sure can talk his way out of trouble, though.

Nick still calls me shorty, and I think other people are catching onto it, too. Now some of the regular customers are asking for 'Shorty' to help them. He only calls me that when he's teasing me, though, thank the Lord. I guess you could call him the leader of the group if you wanted to, and he acts like such a tough guy, even though he's just like the rest of us.

I've adopted the nickname Em or Ems from everyone else, though. It makes me feel loved and welcomed. Nobody ever called me that before.

The first day we got our paycheck, Madi and Vida told me that we were going shopping.

All I got was jeans and shorts, not to mention about every striped top on the clearance rack.

I'm a sucker for stripes.

It was about a week later that our first 'assignment' came up. At about 12 in the afternoon, our morphers (or in my case, iPod) beeped, alerting us of trouble. A little message popped up on the screen of my iPod:

'Trouble in the forest!'

Quickly, we all made our way to the door.

"Lunch break, Toby!" I called over my shoulder as we ran across the street to the tree, each of us running through it one at a time.

Then came the feeling that my skin was peeling off again.

"Ugh….."

I made a noise of disgust as we came through the other side of the tree, and into the forest.

"Woah, check out the uniforms!" Chip exclaimed, and I looked at everybody.

Each of them had on the same uniform, but with different colors and symbols. Then, I looked down at myself, to see that I was wearing the same thing, but in grey. The symbol etched onto my uniform was a grey triangle, with a swirl inside.

"And cloaks!" Madi added, and Chip proceeded to twirl around in it. I rolled my eyes at him.

Vida looked down at her uniform and frowned.

"I hate pink," She said, and looked at her uniform in repugnance.

Xander chuckled.

"It suits you," He said snottily, and Vida raised a fist to punch him.

"Guys, not the time to fight!" I called to them, "Look!" I pointed to a glowing blue symbol on the ground, and out of it rose those creature things again.

"Ah, shit…." I said out loud, getting ready to fight with a single arm.

The monsters charged at us, and everyone got ready to fight….


	7. Chapter 7

We quickly took action, and I picked up a stick to use as a weapon.

_This is gonna be the worst thing I have ever done with my left hand….._

Several of the monsters charged at me, and I blocked the first ones weapon, and kicked it back into the remaining two. They all tumbled to the ground.

I looked around to see everyone else using hand to hand combat and getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter. Madi got flipped onto her back, and rushed to help her, but a pair of strong arms pulled me back, and threw me into the air.

I let out a noise of pain as I hit the ground, landing flat on my back. The monster that threw me then charged at me, and I picked up my stick–sword, and used that and my feet to flip it over top of me and into several other monsters.

"Guys, use your damn wands!" I yelled at everyone else as I saw Chip get flipped into a tree.

_That's gonna hurt him in the morning….._

"I hope this works!" He said as he jumped up, flipped his cloak off, and whipped out his morpher.

"C'mon guys!" Xander called to everyone else, "Let's ranger up,"

Everyone whipped out their morphers, pressed in a spell code, and did a synchronized signal thing.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

And raised their morphers to the sky. In a flash of light, the five friends were now transformed into Mystic Rangers.

I took one look at them….. and burst out laughing.

"What?" Xander asked.

"You…have to ….wear ….. SPANDEX!" I managed to get out between laughs, then cleared my throat, and stood up straight.

"I mean, go kick some ass!"

The five teens ran at the monsters, and I was surprised to see how much more fluidly they moved than the last time.

Xander whipped out a staff thing, and changed a stick into a vine to crush about 15 of the monsters without much effort at all.

Next, Madi whipped out her staff, and used it to send giant spurts of water at her attackers.

Suddenly, Vida took out her staff, grew giant pink wings, and used them to send large currents of wind at the monsters in front of her.

Chip pulled out his staff, changed it into a cross bow, and shot lightning at his assaulters.

I stared at them all, wide-eyed, but then looked around. Where was Nick?

I ran over to where they all stood, and smiled at them all.

"Great job, guys!" I said, "You really aren't half bad in tights,"

Before anyone could retort, the sky suddenly grew dark, and lightning littered the sky.

"What's going on?" Vida asked, and I shook my head.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I said out loud, and out of another symbol on the ground rose a man with dark purple and gold armor, carrying a very intimidating looking sword and shield.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked to no one in particular, and the man turned his attention to me.

"I am Koragg, the night wolf," He said, "I'm surprised you've not heard of me after my little encounter with your sorceress Udonna,"

Suddenly, anger built up inside me. He was gonna mess with Udonna? Behind my back? Why, that little-

"You'll pay for that, you shithead," I said to him, and got into a fighting stance.

He chuckled darkly.

"You are no match for me," He said, drawing out his sword, and getting into a fighting stance also.

Suddenly, a part of his shield slid up, and dark magic rushed out at us. I immediately covered my face with my good arm, but was knocked back onto the ground. My head banged roughly against the hard surface of the earth, and black filled my vision for a moment.

I blinked several times to get my vision back, and when I did I was met by Koragg's sword at my throat.

I glared up at him.

"I will not be merciful this time," He said as he drew his sword back, "Any last words?"

I tried to get up, but couldn't find the strength to do so. Suddenly, and overwhelming anger filled me. Who the hell did this guy think he was? My mother? No WAY was I going down like this!

"Yeah," I breathed out, "F*ck. You,"

I quickly kicked his sword out of his grip, and kicked him in the knees, expecting him to fall over, or even buckle….

He laughed at me, as the blow did nothing to him.

"Impudent child," He said, as his sword flew back into his hand, and he raised it to strike me, "Evil will always conquer good,"

I shut my eyes tight, and raised my arm to my face.

_Ah shit…._

"Not if I can help it!" I heard a familiar voice yell, and opened my eyes just in time to see Nick leap off his motorcycle and kick Koragg in mid-air.

Nick quickly landed on his feet, and took his helmet off, facing Koragg.

"So there _are_ five," Koragg stated out loud, almost as if he didn't expect there to be.

"Bring it," Nick shouted, and Koragg charged at him, sword raised.

As Koragg, brought his sword down, Nick exclaimed, "I do believe in magic!"

Nick brought his hands up to block the blow, and red light surrounded his hands, and pushed Koragg back.

Suddenly, in a large flash of white light, Nick was dressed in a uniform similar to mine. He smiled crookedly at Koragg, and took out his morpher.

"Magical source, Mystic force!" He shouted, and raised his morpher to the sky. In another flash of light, Nick was now standing in between everybody and Koragg, dressed fully in red ranger apparel.

"Prove to me your worthy-ness," Koragg stated, "Battle my forces. Hideaks, arise!"

The monster things that we'd been seeing a lot of lately rose up from the ground.

"You fight with words," Nick said, "So be it!"

He jumped at the risen Hideaks, taking out his staff along the way.

One of the Hideaks leaped at Nick, and he quickly zapped it with his magi-staff, turning it into….. a soccer ball?

_What the hell is he going to do with-_

"Hyah!"

Nick kicked the hideak-soccer ball at some of the monsters, sending them to the ground. The ball bounced back at Nick, and he kicked it again at the monsters. The ball flew into the air, and Nick leaped to it, flipping, and finally kicking it at the remaining monsters and crashing them into the ground from the explosion it made.

But still, the hideaks ran at him, and Nick took out his staff again.

"Magi-staff: sword mode!"

In an instant, his staff was changed into a sword, and he ran at the attacking hideaks, dodging their attacks, and slashing them along the way.

Nick flipped backwards, and out of reach of the monsters.

"I summon the power of the Phoenix!" He said, and ran at the remaining hideaks.

_What is he talking abo-_

Suddenly, two wings of flames engulfed his arms as he ran through the monsters, destroying all of them.

Once he ran all the way to the other side of the group of hideaks, he snapped his fingers, and they all exploded.

I managed to prop myself up, and finally stand, as I bent over to help Madi get up.

"Come on, Mads," I said weakly as I offered a hand to her, that she gladly took.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, as she almost pulled me down with her, and I finally righted myself and her.

"Thanks," She said to me, and I could almost see the smile on her face through her helmet.

"No problem," I replied, and we made our way to the other rangers.

"Great job Nick!"

"Way to go!"

"Way to kick some ass," I said, and smiled crookedly, and Nick smiled right back at me.

"Do not celebrate, rangers,"

We all turned quickly to see Koragg standing on a ridge above us, "That was one of many battles. The next one will have a different outcome,"

He gave us one last glance, and turned his back to us, sinking into another purple symbol before disappearing completely.

The rangers powered down, smiles on their faces.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked looking around to each one of them, and seeing them all nod their heads, let out a sigh of relief.

"I'd say that went pretty well for our first real battle," Xander said positively, and I nodded.

"We better get back to the Porium," Chip pointed out, and we all nodded, setting off to work at a slow pace.

As we walked, I fell to the back of the group, rubbing the part of my head that I had slammed on the ground. It hadn't hurt at all at first, but now it was giving me a major head ache.

"Emma, hurry up," Vida's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, as I realized I had fallen far behind, and ran to catch up with the rest of our group.

As we walked, Nick eventually fell behind to stand next to me, and I immediately dropped my hand from my head.

_I don't want any more patching-up…_

"Hey, are you ok?" Nick asked me, as he came to an even pace as mine.

I looked up at him and grinned, "Never better, why do you ask?"

He looked at the ground, then looked away.

"When Koragg showed up to attack you guys," He started, "I….. I saw him, even though I wasn't there. I saw him use his shield to throw this dark magic at you guys,"

He looked up at me and smiled, "I saw you fall, but you wouldn't stop fighting, even though you did throw a few cuss words,"

I laughed, "I guess you could call that stupidity,"

Nick shook his head, "Naw. It was stupid, but it was definitely brave,"

Now it was my turn to scoff at him, "If it weren't for you and your mad ninja skill, me and my bravery would be dead right now,"

He sighed, and looked away.

"I was actually about to leave Briarwood when I saw you guys needed help," He said, not bringing his eyes up to meet mine.

I shrugged, "I don't blame you…but you _are _gonna stay, right?"

His eyes snapped up to mine, and I didn't take my gaze off of his. I wanted him to know that EVERYBODY wanted him to stay, and I was definitely not letting him get out of this one without answering it.

He smiled crookedly at me, "Do you _want _me to stay?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "Did you _seriously _just ask that? Duh, I do! And I'm pretty sure everyone else does,"

I could practically feel the happiness radiating from him, "Then I guess there's no getting rid of me,"

I smiled, happy that he was staying.

"And besides," He added a moment later, smirking at me, "Someone's gotta be there to save your ass when you need it,"

I stuck my tongue out at him, but smiled, "If I'm not mistaken, we're EVEN now on saving each other's asses," I rubbed my right shoulder, "I'm still feeling the last time,"

He chuckled, "I'm surprised you didn't get hurt this time,"

He looked at me with bright eyes that seemed to see right through me, and it made me want to tell the truth. Blinking, I snapped myself out of it, and looked away.

"Yeah," I replied, "It's a miracle,"

_A miracle that I didn't get THAT hurt….._

Suddenly, Nicks hand reached out towards my hair, "You have something in your hair, hold on," He explained, as I flinched from reflex.

His fingers ran through my hair softly as we stopped walking, and it made want to fall asleep just standing there. But suddenly, Nick's hand stopped at the back of my head, and I grimaced slightly in pain.

_Holy shit, that hurt!_

"Emma," He said dangerously, looking at me accusingly, "You hit your head, didn't you?"

I winced at the tone of his voice-I felt like a child caught eating cookies before dinner.

"No…." I started to say, but quickly changed my answer, unable to hold out against Nick any longer, "Well, just a little, it didn't do anything,"

He frowned slightly; worry filling his eyes, "Have you felt the size of that bump?"

I shook my head, and he immediately grabbed my good hand, and moved it to the back of my head.

"Shit," I mumbled, as my hand hit the back of my head a little too hard.

"You're coming with me to Udonna," He stated, and grabbed my hand, pulling me away.

"No!" I said, and shook my head, "That lady is BRUTAL! I don't wanna be patched up again!"

Nick stopped, and looked at me disbelievingly.

"If it doesn't go down by tomorrow morning, I'll go to the crazy bitch, ok?" I offered, pleading at him with my best puppy-eyes.

Nick sighed in defeat, and released my hand, "Fine, but you have to tell me the truth, ok?"

I nodded vigorously, and held out my pinkie.

"Pinkie promise," I said, as he brought his hand up to meet mine.

"Pinkie promise," He stated with a smile, "Straight from the second grade,"

I laughed at him, "Come on, we're gonna be late," I said to him, and we both ran to catch up with everyone else.


	8. Chapter 8

I made a noise of disgust as we came through the tree in front of the record shop.

"What's wrong?" Vida asked, and I made a face.

"I hate that feeling!" I stated, and everybody stared at me.

"What feeling?" Chip asked, and I looked at everyone to see them staring at me curiously.

"Umm, the feeling when we go through trees?" I suggested, and everyone shook their heads.

"Oh…." Was all I could say, feeling stupid now that I had said it out loud, "Never mind, then,"

"C'mon, we better get back to work," Madi pointed out, and we all walked across the street.

"Toby, we're back," Xander called out as we entered the store, and Toby peeked his head out of his office.

"Good," Toby said, looking around, "Just….uh….man the fort,"

Xander saluted him playfully, and a smile stretched across his face, "Got it, Toby,"

Toby nodded awkwardly, and took one last look at everything before closing the door.

I took up my spot behind the register, and waited for customers to arrive. I gave up though, after a few minutes, and sat down at a stool, putting my chin in my hand and beginning to daydream.

_What if I really __am __the carrier for the Storm?... Nah, magic might work for everyone else, but I don't think it will for me. I'm just …. Not magical, I guess…I wonder if I can do anything else? Maybe I could learn to sword fight?...Pfft, oh yeah, good idea. And then what? Almost get MURDERED again? That's gonna help a lot… ugh, I feel so useless. Granted, I did save Nick's ass, but it took Udonna SO LONG to patch me up….Maybe I'm just not good for anything…._

"Emma!"

I quickly snapped out of my thoughts, and looked to see Madi with a camera pointed to my face. Immediately, I began to blush, and I hid my face behind my hand.

I heard Nick laugh from behind Madi.

"Looks like some one's a little camera shy," He said with a teasing smile, and I peeked out over my hand, but quickly ducked behind it again as I realized the camera was still in front of me.

"Whatever," I called, and Madi laughed as she flipped it closed and walked away to put her camera back.

"So you _are_ camera shy," Nick stated with a mischievous smile, pulling up a stool to sit on the other side of the counter.

"No," I said meekly, blushing again, "I'm not camera shy,"

"Are too," He teased me.

"Am not,"

"Are too,"

"Am not!"

"Are too,"

"Damn it-"

"I'm new here, can somebody help me?"

Everybody stopped talking and turned to the snotty voice in the doorway. In an instant, Xander and Chip were at her sides.

She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, and looked from boy to boy, as if sizing them up.

"I want…." She started, and looked up to see Nick, "Him," She pushed the other two boys away, and strode toward Nick.

Nick laughed nervously.

"Uh… I just started working here," He began, "And I don't know the store that well. Maybe you should ask Chip to take you,"

The girl grinned, and got really close to Nick, standing only inches away from him.

"That's okay," She stated, taking hold of Nicks hand, "My name's Leelee,"

As Nick was dragged away through the store, Vida and Madi held hands, and pretended to flirt with each other, mocking Nick and Leelee. Nick turned to them, and glared at them, while Leelee continued to flirt with Nick, and we all laughed.

A few minutes later, Leelee was still holding onto Nick, having him show her around the store. I could obviously tell that Nick was uncomfortable, and just wanted to get away from her, but couldn't.

I sighed, finally deciding to have mercy on him. I quickly stood from behind the register, and made my way over to them.

"Hey, Nick," I said as I walked nearer to them, "There's something wrong with the register. Can you help me fix it?" I then smiled at Leelee who was doing her best to glare at me, "Thanks for handing Nick over, Leelee. Have a nice day,"

I quickly grabbed Nick's hand that Leelee had attached herself to, and strode away to behind the register, Nick in tow.

We toyed with the register a little until Leelee left, and Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"Finally," He said, moving around to the other side of the register, "I thought she'd never leave,"

I laughed at him, and didn't stop until a few moments later when I couldn't breathe.

He rolled his eyes at me, "Yeah, yeah. Hardy-har-har, you're so funny,"

I wiped my eyes, and looked at Nick, smiling, "You owe me for that one," I pointed out.

He sighed dreamily, and looked up at me with mock-admiration in his eyes, "Oh, Emma, you're my hero!"

I playfully punched him in the arm.

"Whatever," I responded.

Suddenly, I heard a loud explosion, and jumped up out of my seat.

"Whoa," Nick said calmly, putting a comforting hand on my arm, "It's just thunder, calm down,"

I took a deep breath, and sat back down.

"Since when has it been raining?" I asked him, and he shrugged.

"Since we got back," He said, and looked at me inquiringly, "Right about when you started zoning out,"

I looked at him, confused on what he was getting to.

"Your point?" I asked, and saw a spark of excitement in his eyes.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked, and my breath hitched in my throat.

_I can't tell him that I feel like I'm useless. I don't want sympathy, I just wanna be able to do something other than get in the way….._

"Our last fight with Koragg," I finally answered, settling on half the truth.

"Were you upset about it?" He inquired again, and I nodded after thinking for a moment.

"Sad upset, or angry upset?"

"Both," I answered immediately, and he leaned back, a smug smile on his face.

"You really do carry the Storm, don't you?" He murmured to himself before speaking louder, "Don't you see? You were upset, so it started to storm. You were sad, so it started to rain. You were angry, so it started to thunder. You really do carry the Storm,"

I looked at him disbelievingly. He really thought I could ever be magical?

"Nick," I started, "I don't carry the Storm. It's not like it never rains, it's just a coincidence,"

Now it was his turn to look at me disbelievingly.

"You really don't believe?" He asked dejectedly, slouching over in his seat.

Just looking at him in that state made me want to say that I believed, just to see him smile again, but couldn't actually bring myself to lie to him.

"I believe in magic," I stated earnestly, because it was true, "I just don't believe that I have magic in myself, is all,"

Nick nodded, and finally smiled at me, looking a little happier, "Glad to hear that, Shorty. Well, all except for not believing in yourself, but you get what I mean,"

He reached over, ruffled my hair, and stepped back and laughed. I glared at him, pretending to be annoyed, but really I just wanted to laugh with him. I cracked a smile, and straightened out my hair.

"Jerk," I mumbled, wearing a crooked smile.

"You know you love me," He stated, and walked away quickly before I could retort.

I rolled my eyes at him.

_Wow, maybe Briarwood won't be so bad after all…_


	9. Chapter 9

-NEXT DAY-

I ran into the main room of root core, and over to Udonna.

"Hey, 'donna, you don't happen to have an extra broom I can ride on, do you?" I asked her, a mischievous edge to my voice.

She looked up at me, and raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

"I have, why do you ask?" She responded, looking back to the book she had been reading.

"May I borrow it?" I asked her, giving her my best puppy face, "Please?"

She looked up at me, and I could practically see her cave in.

"Alright," She said, getting up out of her seat, "If you insist,"

She walked over to where the rangers kept their brooms, and pressed a button hidden in the gnarled wood of the wall. With a loud grinding noise, a secret compartment opened up in the floor.

Udonna reached down, and pulled out a very ancient looking broom, with a crooked handle and grey carvings where you place your hands.

She held it out to me, and I gladly took it.

"Thanks Udonna!" I called over my shoulder, as I raced outside to where the rangers were standing.

I held the broom out in front of me, and waited for something to happen. Everything was quiet.

"Hey, guys," I said a moment later, "Why isn't it working?"

Chip walked over to the broom, and took it from my hands.

"Hmm," He said, as he inspected it carefully.

Suddenly, the broom moved and whacked Chip in the forehead. Chip quickly held it away from himself with one hand, and held his forehead with his other hand.

"That thing just hit me in the face!" He yelled, and Xander scoffed at him.

"Please mate, get a hold of yourself," He said, taking the broom from Chip, and leaned on it like a cane, "See? There's nothing wron-"

Xander was cut off as he fell to the ground.

"The broom moved!" He said unbelievingly, as he left it on the ground, and stared at it.

I raised my eyebrows at him quizzically.

_The broom…..moves?_

Nick stepped forward, taking hold of the broom, "C'mon guys, it's not like its haunted," He stated, but suddenly the broom flew into the air, taking Nick with it.

"Whoa!" Nick yelled, as he was flung about in the air, "Get me down from here!"

We all jumped and grabbed for the broom, but it would always move out of the way.

"Hurry up, I'm slipping!" Nick called to us as one of his hands dropped.

Getting an idea, I pointed to the earth next to me and said, "That's it! Down!"

Immediately, the broom descended next to me, and Nick fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, as I gave him a hand up.

"Yeah," He replied, but then pointed to the broom next to me, "But that is a demon broom,"

The broom's bristles seemed to stiffen, and it actually flew up next to me, standing straight up.

I looked at it, wide-eyed.

"I don't think he likes you," Vida pointed out to Nick, and I shook my head.

"Nope," I said, "But are we gonna get this thing started or what?"

Madi smiled, "Right!"

In a bright flash of colors, the ranger's brooms were now turned into actual vehicles that reminded me of jet-skis. I looked at my broom, and saw it hadn't changed at all.

"Nice ride," Xander remarked teasingly, and I flipped him off without making eye contact.

"You're just scared to lose against good ol' Junky, over here," I said, patting the handle of my broom as I hopped onto him, surprised that he held my weight.

"On three?" Vida suggested, and we all nodded.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Junky shot off so fast, I'm surprised I didn't fall off. Damn, this baby could go!

Weaving in and out of the trees, it became easier and more fluid to ride, and I looked behind me at Xander.

"How's the view?" I yelled back to him, and laughed as I turned back around and sped up.

I came up fast on Chip, and ended up passing him, so that left me and Nick tied in the lead as we were approaching root core.

"C'mon Junky," I whispered to him, "You know what to do,"

Carefully, I moved so I was crouching on my broom and holding on with my one good hand. Next, I moved slowly, and fully stood up on my broom without hands.

I took a deep breath, and looked down.

_Holy shit, if I miss, that's REALLY gonna hurt in the morning…._

I smiled to myself.

_But that's what makes it all the better…._

Without thinking another word, I jumped off of Junky, and flew through the air towards the ground. Everything turned into a blur of colors as I fell and adrenaline pumped through my veins.

As I neared the earth, I began to mentally count down.

_3….2…._

With a whoosh, Junky swooped underneath of me, catching me before I could plummet fully to my death. He gently descended to where Udonna waited for us, and I hopped off. Soon, the power rangers descended also, and I smirked at Xander.

"Hmm," I stated proudly, "Looks like Junky over here kicked your little power ranger butt,"

Junky did a quick flip in the air before coming down to lay across my shoulders, and I placed my hands on both ends of the broom.

I heard Udonna let out a good natured laugh.

"What did you name him?" She asked me with a smile on her face.

"Junky," I replied, "Why?"

She chuckled again, "His previous name was Ajax,"

"He probably feels ripped off now," Madison commented, and we all laughed.

"Now," Udonna said once we had settled down, "Today we'll be practicing elementary incantations,"

"Boring!" Chip and Vida said at the same time.

"When do we get all the cool weapons and vehicles and gadgets and stuff?" Chip asked excitedly as we walked back to root core.

"In due time," Udonna replied, "As you do heroic deeds, you will earn new spell codes,"

"When?" Vida asked impatiently.

"When the time is right," Udonna answered, and we all continued to walk along.

"Hey, we'll catch up with you guys later!" Vida called, and her and Chip scurried away.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose.

"I have a bad feeling that those two are gonna get into so much trouble," I said out loud, and Udonna nodded, "Me as well."

As soon as we were in root core and were seated at the table, Udonna laid a small, leather bound book in front of each of us.

"These are your spell books," She said, and walked away, calling over her shoulder, "Start practicing,"

I sighed, and opened up to the first page.

SPELL TO CHANGE PEOPLE INTO FROGS

I skipped that page and went on to the next.

SPELL FOR ACNE

I laughed at that one. I didn't know witches and warlocks had acne problems, too.

SPELL FOR CHANGING OBJECTS DIFFERENT COLORS

Grinning evilly, I got an idea.

"Studa ferga rah," I whispered, and pointed to Xander's hair. Without him noticing, I turned it bright blue.

Trying to suppress my snickers, I nudged Madi in the arm, and pointed to Xander.

Looking up at him, she began to snicker too.

Nick, upon hearing our suppressed laughing, looked up also, and when he saw Xander's hair, joined us in our laughter.

"What?" Xander asked, hearing us laugh, and I couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

"It's ….your….hair…" I managed between laughs, and Xander looked up at it, his eyes widening.

"What the- Emma!" He yelled, and stood up, hands in front of him.

"Studa ferga rah!" He said, and shot magic at me. I dived out of the way just in time for it to hit Madi, turning her entire uniform a nasty shade of purple.

My eyes widened as I saw how angry Madi got.

"Studa ferga rah!" She shouted, sending a blast of magic at Xander, who ducked, so instead, it hit Nick square in the neck, making his skin go a pale white.

I busted out laughing at that. He looked like a VAMPIRE!

Next thing I knew, Nick said the incantation and the spell hit me right in the eyes, turning them…..

"Red?" I asked, as I looked at myself in the crystal ball in the middle of the table, "You turned my eyes RED? Why you little-"

"Studa ferga rah!"

As such started the beginning of our color battle. Colors flew everywhere, turning almost everything in the room anything but their original color.

Eventually, we all ended up in a heap on the ground, laughing our heads off, and not quite believing what we just did.

"Holy shit….Udonna's …. Gonna… kill us!" I managed between laughs, and Xander nodded his head.

"I know!" He said, and we all broke out into another fit of laughter.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Our laughter halted abruptly when we heard Udonna, and more importantly, how pissed she sounded. We all raised our gazes to her from our pile on the floor.

"I asked you to practice, and what happens? You trash the room!"

As Udonna began to walk around the room ranting, I quietly chanted the spell backwards.

"Har agref aduts,"

And suddenly, the room was back to normal again, body parts and clothing included.

"And I just can't believe-" Udonna stopped abruptly as she turned around to see the room back in order.

"There ya go, 'donna," I said with a smile, as we all got up off the floor, "No harm done,"

We all sat down at the table again, and picked up our books, and began to read again. Udonna looked at us suspiciously before exiting the room.

"Don't let that happen again," She said icily, as she stood in the doorway, and she didn't leave until we all nodded.

"That was close," Nick stated when Udonna had left.

"Too close," Madi added.

I smirked, "But it was a hell of a lot of fun!"

We high fived each other all the way around the table, and we finally went to actually studying.

About half an hour later, Udonna and Clare joined us in the main room, as Udonna made some type of potion.

"Clare, didn't I ask you to get some stickle berries?" Udonna asked, as she dropped another mysterious ingredient into the cauldron.

"Well, I had a big basket of them," Clare explained, "But I dropped them when I ran away from the giant worm, I'm really sorry,"

Udonna stopped stirring the pot.

"Giant worm?" She questioned.

"Well, I think it was," Clare answered, "I didn't really see it because it never surfaced. But then this freakish looking gnome or troll or goblin knocked me out of the way and saved me,"

"Well did you see who it was?" Udonna asked, and Clare shook her head.

"No, he took off before I could thank him," She said.

Udonna frowned.

"This is troubling," She remarked, and left it at that.

About halfway through our studying and experimenting, Madi came across a spell to heal injuries.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked, and Madi nodded.

"Just relax," She said, and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Cura," She said, and I could practically feel the bones and muscles coming together, and damn did it hurt.

As soon as she was done, I let out a sigh of relief, and took the sling off. Moving my arm around, I found that it worked just like it did before it wasn't broken, and I smiled.

"Thanks Mads!" I said, excited to have my arm back in action.

When we were done studying, it was only 1 in the afternoon on a weekend, though, and we didn't feel like hanging out at root core the rest of the day.

"Hey, they just opened up a new outdoor basketball court right next to the mall the other day," Xander said.

"Yeah, let's go play," Nick suggested, wearing a devious smile, "Let's go play boys versus girls,"

I smiled, "That sounds good. Madi?"

Madi shrugged, and smiled.

"Why not?"

We all got up from the table.

" 'donna, we're going out for a little bit," I called to her, and she looked up from her work.

"Alright, but be careful," She said and we all nodded, exiting root core and heading to the basketball court.


	10. Chapter 10

As we exited the forest, we came out through a tree that we'd never used before.

"Ta-da!" Xander said, as he spread his arms out to the building in front of us, "The mall!"

I laughed at him as we all entered the large complex of buildings. For how big it was, I'm surprised there weren't more people.

"Hey, if we're going to the basketball courts, why are we in the mall?" I asked to no one in particular.

Xander turned around to smile at me, and tapped his head, "Short-cut, mate,"

I nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Mad-" I started to say, then looked at her.

She was totally zoned out, and staring at something in front of us. As I followed her eyes, I grinned wickedly at where her gaze was.

He wasn't really that tall, but definitely a good three inches taller than Madi. He had dirty blonde hair, and from what I could see, he was _definitely _a football player.

As he passed us, I lightly bumped my hip into Madi's, causing her in turn to bump into mystery guy.

"Oh my goodness, I'm sorry," Madi started, and Nick and Xander turned around to see what was going on. I put a hand on each of their backs, and steered them forward.

"Keep walking," I said casually, and we stopped a few feet away from Madi and mystery guy.

"What was that about?" Nick asked me, and a devious smile spread across my face.

"Say hello to match-maker Emma," I said to them, striking a pose.

"You hooked Madi up with a guy like _that?"_ Xander asked, dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open.

"I didn't hook Madi up," I started to say, "She hooked herself up. I just gave her a little bump in the right direction,"

Nick looked at me, realization finally setting in.

"A _bump _in the right direction?" He asked , and I smiled and nodded.

"I can't believe you hooked Madi up with a guy like _that!" _ Xander practically shouted, and I looked over at Madi and mystery man. They were talking and laughing, and seemed to be having a great time, but I had to agree with Xander. I just couldn't really see Madi with a guy like that. Not that there was anything wrong with him, I just didn't think Madi liked his type.

"Well, she picked him out, not me," I said, "Plus, it'll be good for her self-confidence to get a date, or even talk to a guy that's hot,"

The two boys looked at me with mock-offended faces on, and I laughed nervously.

"Not that you guys aren't hot," I started to explain uncertainly, "But she's been around you guys long enough to feel comfortable. Know what I mean?"

Xander just 'hmph'ed, and looked away, pretending to pout, and Nick looked at me with a tricky smile on his face.

"So you think I'm hot?" He asked, and I blushed lightly.

"I never said that," I stated stubbornly.

"But you never said you _didn't_ think I'm hot," He pointed out, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever," I stated, and as I finished saying this, Madi and mystery guy parted, and she came skipping over to us.

"So, who was that?" Xander asked stiffly as we began walking again.

Madi blushed, and an excited smile spread across her face.

"That was Kyle," She said, "He goes to Briarwood High, too, and in our grade!"

I wiggled my eyebrows up and down at her, "Maybe you'll see him around,"

I heard Xander growl from next to Madi, but luckily Madi didn't hear him.

She blushed, "I hope so. I don't know if he's single, though,"

I scoffed, "Of course he is,"

"How do you know?" Nick asked, as he turned to look at me.

"Think about it. He's obviously a football player, and a good looking one at that," I said, and Madi nodded in agreement, "Who's in the mall _by himself, _at _1:30 on a Saturday. _If he had a girlfriend, she'd be with him,"

Nick raised his eyebrows at my logic.

"So this guy's single?" He asked nodding to a man about to pass us, and as he walked by, I caught a whiff of cologne, and LOTS of different women's perfumes. YOU do the math.

My nose crinkled in disgust, and I looked at Nick, "You don't wanna know what I have to say,"

Everyone laughed, and I cracked a smile.

We continued walking through the mall, just chatting and laughing, but as we walked by a stairwell, a group of guy that were hanging out there started following us, and making cat-calls at Madi.

She immediately paled.

"Emma, what do I do?" She asked, obviously panicking.

"Calm down," I said comfortingly, not letting on how pissed I was at these guys, "Just … go over to Xander and ask him for help, or something,"

She nodded, and quickly moved over to Xander.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn his head to glare at the group of guys following, then move Madi to the inside of him, so she was now in between Nick and himself. For good measure, he slung an arm over her shoulders, and Madi wrapped an arm around his waist.

I let out a sigh of relief, glad that Xander took care of Madi, but when I glanced back, the guys were still following us. It was then that I started hearing what they were saying.

"Wait up, Blondie!"

"Hey babe, where you going? I'm over here!"

"C'mon, sexy, don't be like that,"

Hearing them all call at _me _like that made me extremely scared and nervous. Right when I was debating whether or not to run away, I didn't get the chance.

Nick reached over, and moved me to the inside of him, and quickly laced his fingers with mine.

Immediately, I tensed. I was uncomfortable with _anybody _touching me, let alone _Nick._

As we walked on, the boys behind us began to dwindle away, and I loosened up a little bit. Holding hands wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and soon enough, I became almost comfortable with my hand in Nick's.

Nick, on the other hand, was completely natural, almost as if he had done this a million times before. It made me wonder how many girlfriends he'd had, and the idea struck a sudden embarrassment in me. Here I was, holding hands with Nick, feeling so special, when he'd probably had a million girlfriends.

_As if anybody would ever like ME…_

As soon as we were out of the mall, I slipped my hand out of his.

"Thanks, Nick," I said smiling, and hoping I didn't let on how dejected I was.

He smiled widely at me, his bright eyes glinting attractively.

"Any time, Shorty," He stated, and I smiled back.

We all began to walk across the small stretch of park to the basketball court and Xander spoke up.

"Hey, Chip and Vida never showed,"

Madi let out a dry laugh, "Well, when my sister gets that dangerous glint in her eyes, you know there's gonna be trouble,"

"I'll show you trouble!"

The voice seemed slightly familiar to me, and as we snapped our heads up, my eyes widened….


	11. Chapter 11

I glared at the thing in front of us.

"Hey, you're that bitch from the other day, right?" I asked her, and stepped forward, crossing my arms.

She sneered at me haughtily.

"I am Necrolai, dark mistress of the underworld. You must be that impudent girl who refused to give me the Storm, then disappeared," She retorted back.

"Life's a bitch, hun, you can't always get everything you want," I said matter-of-factly, and gave her a dry smile.

She growled at me, "You'll pay for that!"

Quickly, she shot purple magic at me and sent me flying backwards. Luckily, Xander, Nick, and Madi were there and caught me before I could break another shoulder.

"Let's ranger up," Nick said, and they got in their formation, with Nick in the front and Xander and Madi on either side of him.

"Magical source, mystic force!"

In a flash of light, they were all in their power ranger mode, and they ran at Necrolai.

Xander rapidly sent a kick to her face which she blocked, then pushed him back.

Next, Nick and Madi attacked her at the same time, kicking and dodging, but Necrolai blocked every one of their attacks.

Necrolai leaped back to put some space between herself and the rangers, and they hastily all attacked her at once.

Even then, she weaved in and out of them, blocking and striking them when she could, and still not a single hit was laid on her.

She back flipped, and turned to face the rangers.

"Play time is over!" She declared, and put her hands on her hips.

"We'll see," Nick said.

Necrolai quickly spread her ugly bat wings, and flew away, hitting the rangers with dark magic as she was suspended in the air.

She flew back around again, throwing more magic at the rangers, which they couldn't block. They were all thrown back from the blow.

"Let's go for a ride!" She said evilly, picking them all up, and carrying them all away as I watched in horror.

Sprinting after as fast as I could, I set my jaw in determination.

_I am NOT letting Necrolai have them…._

I ran after them through the city, and was surprised that I could actually keep up without dyeing. Granted, I was breathing pretty hard, but that's just because I'm not built for this crap.

She flew over the city and out of it, and finally going into a strange forest. Still, I raced after her, but found it extremely hard with the trees and rocky terrain.

"Damn, I wish I had Junky right now," I mumbled to myself as I huffed and puffed after them.

A moment later, a whooshing sound reached my ears, and I looked around, only to find nothing.

_Hmm, that's weir-_

Suddenly, I was swooped up by something, and I immediately grabbed hold of it so I wouldn't fall. Looking down, I smiled.

"Good to have ya here, Junky," I said to my broom, patting him on the handle. He quickly sped up to behind Necrolai, just as she approached a giant fly-trap like thing.

"Don't even try it," I yelled to her, as Junky sped up to next to her, and I slammed into her from the side.

"Ugh!" She cried, dropping the rangers and spinning through the air to the ground.

Junky and I quickly swooped down, and I grabbed hold of Xander's hand, who grabbed onto Nick's, who grabbed onto Madi's.

I let out a sigh of relief as I realized that they were all attached to each other and that no one had fallen.

Suddenly, I heard Necrolai let out a shrill cry, and I felt something crash into my right hip, causing me to fall off my broom.

I hastily flung out my hand and grabbed onto Junky with it, my other hand supporting the three rangers.

"Junky, move!" I yelled to my broom, and he began to carry us to the ground. As soon as we were about fifteen feet off the ground, Madi dropped down, landing on her feet. Next was Nick, then Xander. I let out a shaky breath as I realized how close that actually was.

I immediately tried to right myself on Junky, pulling myself up with two hands, and wrapping my leg over top of him.

Suddenly, I saw something fly towards me from the right, and I quickly swooped down upon instinct.

Necrolai growled at me as she realized she had missed her target, and flew around to face me.

"If I can't have the power rangers, I'll just take the Storm!" She yelled at me, and charged.

Hurriedly, I moved out of the way.

"Look, I don't carry the damn Storm!" I yelled at her, and she continued to chase me.

"Yes you do!" She growled back at me, "I can feel its power!"

I kept dodging her, and soon I could see that Necrolai was beginning to tire and grow frustrated.

"Mucor!" She cried, and I wondered who she was calling to.

I heard the monster that tried to eat the rangers grunt in acknowledgement.

"Get her!" She shrieked out, pointing to me.

The monster began to advance on me, and I started to panic.

_Holy shit that thing is HUGE!_

It lifted its right arm, which I noticed was larger than his left, and shot some type of green things at me. Junky seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and began to dodge them.

"Hold on guys, we're coming!" I heard someone call from a distance, and turned my heads toward the voice.

Vida and Chip were riding towards us on their flying jet-ski things, and I let out a breath I hadn't know I'd been holding.

Suddenly, I heard Mucor grunt, and as I turned my head to him, saw his giant hand coming forward to swat me.

Quickly, I jerked Junky partly out of the way, but the monster's hand caught the end of the broom, sending it spinning out of control towards the ground.

I was thrown off Junky in mid-air, and barely got a glimpse of the rapidly approaching ground before a penetrating pain entered my head, and everything went black….


	12. Chapter 12

The first thing I woke up to was the whisper of voices around me. The next, was the biggest headache I've ever had.

"Shit, my head hurts," I mumbled to myself, as I pried my eyes open, only to let out a groan and close them again from the light.

"Udonna, she's up!" I heard a familiar voice yell, and heard pounding footsteps approach.

"Emma?" One voice asked, but I couldn't place who it was.

I pried my eyes open, and was temporarily blinded from the light in the room. As my vision came back into focus, I looked around at seven figures all standing around me.

"Hey guys," I said, as I sat up, and looked around at them.

"_Hey?" _I heard Vida shout, and I winced at how loud her voice was, "That's all you can say?"

I held out my hand in a calming fashion, and I looked at her, sensing her calm down.

"I'm sorry," I started calmly, "I don't remember what happened,"

Xander looked at me from my left, a painful grimace on his face.

"You fell off your broom, mate," He stated, "You hit your head when you crashed,"

I nodded slightly.

"Awesome," I stated sarcastically, as I recalled what happened, "What happened to the Venus fly-trap thing?"

Chip smiled widely, and puffed his chest out, "I took care of him,"

Madi laughed, and playfully hit him on the arm.

"We all took care of him," She added, and I smiled.

"Great job, guys…..but what happened to Necrolai?" I inquired, and everyone exchanged looks.

"She escaped," Udonna said, after a moment of silence.

I nodded in understanding.

"You can't win 'em all," I said, trying to make the discouraged rangers feel better about their loss, "We'll just have to kick her butt next time,"

Everyone grinned, and the air lightened considerably.

I looked towards Udonna and Clare to see them both smiling at our determination, and my eyes drifted to the person next to Clare who hadn't said a word so far.

"Clare," I asked hesitantly, "Why….why are there two of you?"

The two Clares looked at each other, before the one next to Udonna spoke.

"I was practicing my spells again," She explained nonchalantly, and I laughed, shaking my head.

"You'll get 'em right someday," I stated, "Even if it means we have twenty Clares running around root core,"

She laughed, and I looked around again. We seemed to be missing someone…..

"Hey, where's Nick?" I asked to nobody in particular, and Udonna answered.

"He's investigating the forest to see what might've attacked Clare," She explained, and as soon as she finished her sentence, the ranger's morphers rang, and they picked it up.

"Guys, I need your help! I found the thing that attacked Clare! Hurry!" I could hear Nick's panicked voice through the phone.

"On our way," Chip responded immediately, and they all raced away. I hastily hopped out of the bed I was in, and began to follow.

"Oh, no you don't," Udonna said, catching my arm before I could walk further.

"Come on, 'donna," I pleaded, giving her my best puppy dog face, but she still shook her head.

"No, dear," She said patiently, and I sighed. There was going to be no changing her mind.

"Good luck, guys," I called, as they raced out of root core, "Stay safe! Don't talk to strangers!"

Soon, they were gone, and I was left behind with Udonna and Clares. Yes, I meant 'Clares' because she still hadn't gotten rid of her clone yet.

I sighed, and looked around for something to use to escape and go help everyone. Spotting a window, I slowly made my way over to it, making sure Clare or Udonna weren't watching.

Gently, I reached my hand up to the sill to open it, and Udonna turned around immediately.

"Usha moy pendo!" She chanted, and white magic engulfed me. Soon, I found myself trapped in a small ball made of magic the size of a snow globe.

"Udonna, what the hell!" I yelled, and pounded against the wall with my fists, "Let me out!"

She chuckled, and bent down to pick me up. I fit perfectly in her palm while stuck in my snow globe, and I was NOT happy about this.

"I will let you out when the time is right," She stated, setting me on the giant oak table.

"When the time is right?" I yelled at her, "That's right now! I need to go help!"

Udonna just ignored me, and continued to go around root core, putting things away, looking at a spell book here and there, and just doing about a little of everything.

I growled in frustration. I didn't want to be in here, I wanted to be out there! With the rangers! You know, kicking evil ass?

After several minutes of pacing, I finally got tired, and sat down to await the ranger's return.

After about ten minutes of sitting down, I got _bored. _So what I found I could do was draw pictures on the wall of the globe with my finger. Don't ask me how, because I honestly have no idea, but I think it had something to do with the magic that Udonna used. Since it was white, my drawings showed up black?... Never mind, I give up on logic.

I sat there, for what felt like hours on end, just drawing on the walls.

_Damn, I feel like Udonna put me in the crazy house or something…_

Just as I was about to shout at Udonna to let me out again, I heard the front door open, and several pairs of footsteps approach.

"Udonna, we're back!" I heard Chip call, and the rangers entered the room.

"Where is she?" Madi asked, and looked around. I looked around too, and realized that Udonna wasn't in the room.

"Madi!" I yelled to her, and she looked around the room startled.

"Did you hear that?" She asked, and all the rangers nodded.

I sighed in frustration.

"Madi, down here!" I shouted again, waving my arms around. When they still couldn't find me, I yelled one more time.

"I'm in the damn snow globe!"

The ranger's eyes finally drifted over to where I was trapped, and they all stifled a laugh.

"What are you doing in there, mate?" Xander asked, picking me up and putting me at his eye level.

"Being punished, I guess," I stated, crossing my arms, "Udonna wouldn't let me leave with you guys, so I tried to sneak out, but got caught,"

Xander laughed at me.

"Hey let me see!" Chip shouted, grabbing for the globe, and pulling it out of Xander's grasp.

He held it up to his eyes, and smiled goofily.

"Aww, you're so cute!" He said, tapping the globe. The sound echoed off the walls, making my small headache much worse.

"Ugh, now I know how the fish at the aquarium feel," I said, and Chip just smiled his goofy grin.

"Let me see!" Vida said, reaching for the globe, which Chip pulled away from her and held it high.

"I wasn't done looking yet!" He complained, and Vida growled at him.

"I want to see her too!" She quickly grabbed for me again, and I let out a squeak of surprise as I was snatched away, but not by Vida.

"Come on, guys," I heard Nick say, as I pulled myself up off the floor of the globe, "It's Emma, not a toy. You can't just throw her around like that,"

"I'm sorry Emma," Chip started, looking into my little sphere, "But you're just too cute when you're tiny!"

I heard everyone laugh loudly as he said this, unable to hold it in anymore. I looked up at Chip, glaring at him intensely.

"Trust me, Chip," I started, "I won't be nearly as cute when I get out of here,"

Chip immediately paled, and ran to behind Vida, peeking over her shoulder. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he made a face back.

"Whoa," I mumbled to myself, as the globe began to move and I lost balance, falling over.

"How do we get you back to normal?" Nick asked me, as I was raised to his eye level.

I stood up and brushed myself off.

"I don't know, Udonna put me in here," I said with a shrug, and Nick nodded.

"Let's go find Udonna," He stated, but before anyone could go anywhere, said sorceress walked into the room.

"Hello everyone," She said pleasantly, and everyone smiled back.

"Hi Udonna," Madi said nicely, "Would you mind?"

Madi pointed to me, and a smile stretched across Udonna's face.

"Emma, do you have anything you'd like to say?" She asked me, crossing her arms, most likely expecting an apology.

I looked up at Nick, who was still holding me, and motioned for him to come closer.

"Tell her that I said yeah, and that these damn things need seat belts," I said to him, and crossed my arms, in a pouty way.

Nick let out a small laugh, before turning to Udonna, a smile on his face.

"She said, yes, and that she'd appreciate if you'd put seat belts in these," He spoke, and gave me a teasing sideways glance.

"What? Hey, that's not what I said!" I yelled at Udonna, but she didn't hear me.

"Very well," She stated, and held her hands out. White magic engulfed the globe I was trapped in, and soon I was standing up fully and regular sized.

"You stink, 'donna," I said, glaring at her. She raised an eyebrow, and held her hands out again.

I made a noise of surprise, and quickly ran behind the person closest to me, peeking over their shoulder.

Everyone laughed, including Udonna, and soon enough I found myself laughing along.

"Hey, we have work tomorrow, and it's getting pretty late," Chip pointed out when we stopped laughing, and I noticed the sky was getting dark, "Can we go Udonna?"

She smiled at us, "You may go,"

I stepped out from behind my shield, and fully realized now who it was.

_Whoops, sorry Nick…._

"Bye 'donna, see ya later," I said sweetly, and gave her my best cutesy smile. She just raised an eyebrow at me again.

"Goodbye," She said, and waved her hand at us all, and white magic surrounded us. Soon, we were outside of root core and in the forest, and we all began to walk.

Suddenly, something occurred to me.

"Hey," I started, "We don't have work tomorrow. Today's Saturday."

Everyone gave each other uneasy looks, telling me that something was up.

"Yesterday was Saturday, Emma," Nick said from next to me, and I turned to look at him, "You were out all day yesterday, and most of the day today,"

I nodded my head, "Awesome," I stated sarcastically, then turned to Nick again.

"What was that thing that was chasing Clare?" I asked him.

"Some type of worm thing," Chip answered for him excitedly, "It was like the Ancient Greek Myths!"

I laughed at my nerdy friend.

"Sound exciting," I said with a smile, and Chip nodded vigorously.

"Oh yeah!" He answered, and everyone laughed.

We walked a little farther, before I came across a tree wide enough to travel through.

"Bye guys, see you tomorrow," I said with a wave, and stepped through the tree to go home.


	13. Chapter 13

"Go Vida," Madi cheered for her sister the next day at work, as Vida scratched records and Madi recorded her with her camera, "You're a genius behind these tables,"

Vida laughed, and kept on scratching, "Thanks, sis. You know I'm in the zone,"

Madi moved towards Xander, who was reading the newspaper, and sitting around…. As usual.

"There's been another attack, right around here," He said to camera, holding up his newspaper, "Man turned to stone,"

Xander looked over at Chip, and lowered his paper.

"Uh, Chip," He started, "We're meant to be marking 'em down,"

Chip rolled his eyes at Xander, "Yeah, _we _are, but I guess you're supervising right?"

Xander looked at the camera, an impressed expression on his face, "He catches on fast!"

Madi laughed, and moved the camera over to Chip again.

"Every price shall fall under my mighty hand," Chip began, pointing his little price tag gun thingy at the camera, "For I am Count Discounts, defender of the Bargain Bin, and hero to slacker and collector alike!"

Chip then proceeded to take his 'gun' and shoot at random objects.

"Alright, that does it!" Xander exclaimed, getting up and taking the gun from Chip.

He began to put discount tags all over Chip, with Madi videotaping the entire thing.

"One last touch," Xander stated, sticking one more sticker on Chip's forehead, and slapping the gun down on the discount bin.

"Now you're really Count Discount," Xander stated, flipping up Chip's collar. Chip just stood there, dazed, and probably wondering what just happened.

Madi laughed, and moved the camera away from them, but not before getting one last shot at Xander, who winked at the camera.

Suddenly, a thought dawned on me.

_He likes her….._

Madi swung the camera around to Toby, who was talking to a customer.

"We don't have 8-track tapes, you Neanderthal!" Toby exclaimed, "The fidelity on those things are horrible! Now get back into your pinto, and take your business elsewhere!"

The customer just stared at Toby, obviously shocked, before storming out of the store.

"Toby, why so cranky today?" I heard Madi ask, and Toby faced her.

"I'm….. fasting," He said, "Trying to cleanse my body and mind, which means no food. No pork rinds, no cheese fries, no snack cakes, no nothing!" Toby paused for a moment, before continuing.

"I'm so hungry, I could eat the oldies section! Hey, dorkmeister," Toby called to a customer who just walked in, "No outside food allowed!"

The customer just gave Toby an odd look, and kept walking.

Madi then walked towards the back of the store, and into Toby's office where Nick was, closing the door behind her.

I sighed, as I descended from the steps where I had been watching everything, happy to avoid the camera.

I began to sort out some of the records that had gotten jumbled up to kill some time, until my attention got caught when Nick and Madi exited Toby's office.

"She's a wild one, all right," Nick said loudly, and Madi stopped him, and said something I could quite hear. When Nick left, I went over to Madi.

"Hey, are you ok?" I asked her, but before she could answer, Leelee made her way over to us.

"Not shy?" Leelee said cattily, "Please. The last time you went out, those shoes were in, and even Toby can't remember back _that _far,"

I looked at Leelee unbelievingly, super pissed at her. She was NOT getting away with that while I was here.

"Come _on, _Leelee," I said, taking a step between her and Madi, "The last time _you _went out, your _face _was in, and I don't think anybody _wants _to remember back that far,"

Leelee looked at me, shocked, and obviously surprised that I had retorted back.

"So unless you plan on winning the ugly contest, you'd better fix it," I finished, glaring at her angrily.

Her face scrunched up like she was about to cry, and she ran out of the store immediately.

I turned to Madi, and smiled warmly.

"You ok?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"Yeah, thanks," She said, closing her camera, and putting on the counter top, "You know, for sticking up for me."

I smiled again, "No problem,"

Madi sighed, and looked at the ground.

"I'm going for a walk, I'll see you later Emma," She said, and walked out the door, without even looking back.

I sighed, and rubbed the bridge of my nose stressfully.

Suddenly, I heard a beep from my pocket, and immediately took my iPod out.

"I'm sensing the dark magic just outside the perimeter of the forest that's turning people to statues," Udonna's voice came out through the speaker, and I nodded, and quickly met up with the rest of the rangers near the 60's section.

"We got to stop it," Xander announced, and Vida stepped in.

"Wait, where's Madi?" She asked.

"She got all upset about something and left," Nick offered, "Look, we'll call her if we get into trouble."

I nodded, and everyone else seemed to be okay with that, and we all ran out the door.

"Lunch break, Tobes!" Xander called back over his shoulder.

We quickly went to root core, grabbed our brooms, and were on our way.

"Madi looked pretty ticked off when she left," Vida said, as we flew along.

Xander scoffed, "Women. So, what did you say to her?" He asked Nick.

"Yeah, what you say to her?" Chip joined in.

"I didn't say anything," Nick said back, irritated, "Can we focus on what we're doing here?"

He sped up, and we all dismounted quickly, looking around the forest.

"Oh no, look!" Vida cried, pointing to about 15 citizens who were turned to stone.

"Great, he's already been here!" Nick said.

"Do you like my rock garden?" A scratchy voice from behind us said, and we all turned around.

"Soon everyone will be like they are," Necrolai declared, and landed in front of us.

"Never!" Nick retorted, and suddenly a growling sound reached our ears.

We turned to our right to see a monster that looked like a mix between a plucked chicken and a pig.

"Magi-staff, striker!" Nick shouted, taking out his staff, and charging at the beast, hitting it with his sword. Still, Nick's sword seemed to have no impact on the monster, and the bird thing just picked him up and threw him.

"Come on!" Xander said, helping Nick up and ready to attack, but before we got the chance to even advance on the monster, he shot some sort of red laser like things at us, blowing us all back into the surrounding forest.

"That did the trick," The monster declared triumphantly, and Necrolai chuckled evilly.

"Now there's no one to stand in our way!" She stated, and I struggled to move, but found it impossible. The things that the monster had shot at us had made it hard to move at all, momentarily making me limp.

Before I could try to stop her, she and the monster were sucked down into a purple symbol.

After a few more moments of struggling, I finally managed to prop myself up, then stand with the support of a tree.

I let out a shrill whistle, and Junky came whizzing around and stopped right in front of me. Quickly, I climbed on, and looked at the rangers.

They all nodded, and quickly jumped onto their brooms also, and we flew towards the city as fast as we could.

"Down there!" I yelled to everyone else, as I spotted Necrolai and her monster, and we all swooped down quickly.

"Sis!" Vida called out, and ran towards her sister. I followed after her, and looked in horror at what had happened to Madi.

"Hard luck," Necrolai said, and the monster behind her laughed.

"Oh no," Vida mumbled to herself, putting a hand on Madi's stone face, then whipping around to face Necrolai.

"You witch, you'll pay for that!" Vida declared, anger lacing every word she spoke, and took out her Magi-staff.

"Magi-staff, wind power!"

Unexpectedly, the two foes were blown away by Vida's wind, but quickly got back up.

"Foolish girl," Necrolai declared, "Don't you see you can never stop us? Especially now that you're down a ranger,"

Before we even had time to retort, she and her monster vanished away into a symbol again.

"Stop!" Nick called out, but they were gone.

Vida hastily ran back to her sister.

"We gotta get her back to root core," She declared, and we all nodded, putting Madi on Xander's flying jet-ski and soaring to root core as fast as we could.

"Sorveda Mercuius," Udonna chanted when we were all at root core, and Madi was standing up against the oak table.

I sighed in frustration as the spell did nothing, just like the other ones.

"This creature's magic is very strong," Udonna said, sounding the most frustrated I've ever heard her, "Only by destroying him can the spell be broken,"

"Oh, I'll destroy him all right," Vida started, pacing the room angrily, "With my bare hands!"

She quickly rushed towards the exit, but was cut off by Chip.

"Whoa, cool it V!" Chip said, placing his hands on her shoulders, "You can't just rush in there!"

"Move, Chip!" Vida exclaimed, but Chip still didn't move.

"If you rush out of here without a plan, you'll end up just like Madi," He pointed out to her, and Vida sighed, defeated.

"Chip's right, that's how she got into trouble in the first place," Nick said, coming towards them, "She shouldn't have been out there alone,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vida asked defensively.

"She probably got in over her head, V," Nick said coming to a stop in front of her. Vida looked at him, a hurt expression on her face.

"Man, you don't know my sister. She may be shy on the outside, but inside, she's got the heart of a warrior," Vida retorted back.

"Right," Nick stated sarcastically, "That's why she's always hiding behind that camera,"

"You are so clueless," Vida said, shaking her head, and taking out her morpher, pointing it to Madi's camera, "Here's why she's always behind the camera,"

In a flash of light, the camera recordings were playing on the screen of what looked like a computer. I walked around to behind everyone to watch what Madi had recorded.

"Introducing, D.J. Vida!" Madi's voice rang over the camera, as it showed Vida behind her tables, smiling and scratching away, "The best sister ever,"

Nest, the camera showed Xander.

"Can't forget Xander," Madi said, "Not only a great friend- but he's sick on his board,"

The video showed Xander doing some type of crazy moves on his skate board, and the camera switched over to Chip.

"No man has ever attempted this without losing his life," Chip said on the camera, pulling back a bow and arrow.

"Chip Thorn - known him since grammar school," Madi's voice rang out on the camera again, and it showed Chip shooting the arrow right into the bull's eye of a target, "There is nobody in this world quite like Chip,"

Chip looked at the camera, bow still in hand, and jumped for joy.

Next, the camera changed over to me drawing.

"Next is the extremely rare species Emma, who is also difficult to catch on camera," Madi said over the device, and I looked up on the camera, and hid my face behind my hand, blushing. I could hear Nick say something smart in the back ground, and the camera showed me flipping him off.

"She's definitely got a mouth like a sailor," Madi said on the camera, and next the camera showed Nick working on his motor cycle, then riding on it.

"Then there's Nick – the new guy in town. We don't know too much about him yet, but I can feel it – he's something special. So those are my friends, old and new, and I know I can count on them for anything,"

The video clicked off, and Udonna spoke.

"Everyone has a different way of expressing themselves, Nick," She said, coming up to face us, "Maybe Madison does it through her films,"

Nick began to pace, and finally turned around to face Vida.

"You're right," He said, "I was clueless,"

He quickly walked around to stand at the top of the steps of the platform we were all on.

"It's my fault she got into this, and I'm gonna get her out," Nick said, determined, and began to walk towards his broom.

"Whoa," I said, running over to in front of Nick before he could do something stupid, "If you think you're going alone, you're wrong," I quickly snapped my fingers, and Junky immediately flew into my hand. I smirked, and looked at Nick devilishly.

"Let's go kick some evil ass," I stated….


	14. Chapter 14

Before we could depart, the Xenotome flipped itself open, and Udonna ran over to it.

"Apparently, you now _have_ a clue," She said, looking up at Nick excitedly, "A new spell code,"

Nick flipped open his morpher and smiled, but we hardly got the chance to celebrate. The crystal ball in the middle of the oak table showed the pig-chicken thing terrorizing the city again.

"He's back," I said, and looked around to the other rangers, "Let's go!"

"For Madi!" Xander said, and I gave him a knowing sideways glance.

_Wow, he's got the biggest crush EVER on her….._

Quickly, the rangers morphed, and we all mounted onto our brooms and quickly flew towards the city.

Suddenly, light blue magic was being shot at us from the ground.

"Look out!" Nick called to us, as we weaved in and out of the assault.

"You go ahead and get that monster," Nick said to us, "I'll hold off Koragg and his goons,"

"Right," Xander said, and they all flew away. Sneakily, I followed behind Nick down to Koragg, and more magic was shot at us, which Junky weaving in and out of expertly. Nick hastily did his fire of the phoenix spell, and I took down the rest of the monsters Koragg had with him, kicking and clothes-lining them as Junky whipped by them.

"It ends here, Red ranger," I heard Koragg say, and saw him raise his sword to Nick. Koragg jumped up towards the sky to strike Nick. Panicking, I flew up to meet Koragg from the side, and pushed him off course, sending him to the ground instead of hitting Nick.

I quickly whipped Junky around so that we were level with Nick, and we raced off towards the city.

"Emma, what are you doing here?" He called over to me.

"You're an idiot if you thought I was going to let you do that alone," I said back to him, with a sly smile, "Come on, we can talk later, but right now, let's just go kick some evil butt,"

He laughed, and we quickly flew towards where the other rangers were.

Looking down at the scene before me, I saw the rangers getting their butts kicked.

"Nick, use your new spell code!" I said, and he nodded, and punched in the code in his morpher. As we descended, an explosion hit the area Nick had landed, and out of it came ….. Nick on a giant red motorcycle?

"Take this!" He yelled, as he flew through the air towards the monster advancing on the rangers, and hitting it with lasers built into his bike. Nick quickly drove it back around, and dismounted off it.

"You've done enough damage for one day," Nick said to the monster, "Magi-staff!"

"Oh, this is too easy," The monster said, getting ready to turn Nick into stone. It made me uneasy just hovering there, so I quickly dismounted off of Junky, ready to run in and fight if needed.

"Reflectus torgo!" Nick shouted, and out of the ground raised a mirror, just as the monster fired the spell to turn Nick into stone. The spell bounced off the mirror, and back to the monster, turning it completely to stone.

"He did it," I mumbled to myself, and watched him lower the mirror.

"Now to end this!" He said, "Power of the Phoenix!"

Nick was immediately engulfed in flame, and he ran to the stone monster, blowing it into pieces.

I smiled at him.

"Good job, Nick," I called over to him, and he gave me the thumbs up.

We didn't get any more time to celebrate, though, because suddenly, the monster was sorted back into pieces and alive again, not to mention the fact that he was now larger that the city!

I growled at this. Why the hell do they never just DIE?

"Madi! You're ok!" I heard Vida exclaim, and turned to see Madi with us too.

She smiled at her sister.

"Looks like I turned up just in time," Madi stated.

"Hey Madi," Nick said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I was a jerk. I'm sorry I said you were too shy,"

"Apology accepted," Madi said warmly, "Let's just forget about it,"

"Look," Nick said, as Madi's morpher rang, and she flipped it open.

"I guess we both learned something today," Madi said to him, with a smile.

"We sure did," Nick replied, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

"Guys, I'm not trying to be a piss-ass or anything, but we need to get this thing out of here before it turns the entire city to stone," I pointed out to them, and they nodded. Madi quickly morphed, and Junky flew into my hand.

In a flash of light, all the rangers were morphed into titans, and I flew up on Junky to hover next to Nick.

"Let's try the new spell code," Madi said, and Vida cheered for her sister.

"Go for it, Sis!" She shouted.

"Galwit Misto Unios!" All the rangers shouted at once, and were transformed into one giant titan ranger.

"That doesn't scare me!" The monster across from them said, and I looked at the rangers, wide-eyed.

"It sure as hell freaks me out," I mumbled to myself, and let out a sound of surprise as the monster shot a giant fire ball at us.

Suddenly, I was pulled away with Junky, and surrounded by darkness for a moment.

"Got 'em!" I heard the monster yell, and the darkness surrounding me opened up to the light.

"Not even close!" Nick retorted back, and I realized that they must've used their wings to protect me and themselves from the fireball.

"Thanks guys!" I called to them, and quickly flew up to beside them again.

The monster growled, and ran towards us, and I quickly flew out of the way this time.

"Titan saber!" I heard the rangers yell, and a giant saber appeared in the titan's hand, slashing the approaching monster, and sending him flying back.

"Ancient power, Mystic spellseer!" They yelled again, and a seal like thing hit the monster head on, blowing him up.

They quickly went back to their normal selves, and I went to greet them, a smile playing across my face.

"Great job guys," I said, and sent high-fives all around.

"We'd better get back to work, before Toby wonders where we are," Xander pointed out and we all nodded, going through trees until were safely out of the one in front of the record shop.

"We're back Toby!" I called, as we entered the record shop, and took up our 'posts' again, which really just meant that Vida was behind her tables, Chip was running around doing … something, Madi was video recording again, Xander was 'supervising', Nick was actually doing something productive for the shop, and I was sitting at the counter drawing.

"Make sure you get my good side, sis!" Vida called as her sister videotaped her scratching records, and turned her back to the camera and shook her butt.

I laughed, and turned back to the picture I was drawing, zoning everything else out.

I snapped my head up, though, as Nick pulled a stool up to the other side of the counter as me.

"Looks like Madison's really trying to come out of her shell," He commented, and I followed his gaze to where Madi was talking to some guy. As he turned his head, I realized it was Kyle from the mall!

"Yeah, but if he pulls anything on her, I'll kick his ass," I said, and Nick laughed.

"Don't worry," He started looking back over to me, "She can take care of herself,"

I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I know," I responded, and continuing drawing as he got out a magazine to read.

_But if Leelee ever says anything else to her, I'm ripping that bitch a new one… _I thought, and laughed to myself evilly. If she ever tries to make trouble again, she's going through me first.


	15. Chapter 15

"I say, incredulous fellow," Chip exclaimed the next day at work, as Nick entered the shop, "You're standing in my moat! You'll most likely be devoured by a crocodile,"

Nick looked at Chip, then the paper bag that sat atop his head, and then the toilet plunger in Chip's hand, and so looked at me for help.

"Chip's playing castle again," I said, without even waiting for Nick to ask, as I leaned against the counter.

"Salt water or fresh water croc?" Nick questioned, and Chip thought for a moment.

"Freshwater. I think," He said, pointing the toilet plunger at Nick's chest like a sword.

"Aha!" Nick exclaimed, grabbing the plunger and flipping the ends so the 'blade' was now facing Chip, "I am in no danger, then. For I know first-hand that it is the saltwater croc that is more dangerous to man, so I'll just swim on through,"

Nick moved Chip aside, and tossed him back his sword when he was past him.

"Well…." Chip began, but Nick paid no heed to him, and continued on with whatever he was doing.

I laughed at them, and shook my head, then looked over to where Vida and Madi were.

"V!" Madi practically shouted over Vida's music, as her sister worked behind her tables again.

"V," Madi said, as she walked around to the other side of the table to her sister, catching Vida's attention, "I want you to listen to this CD, it's really cool,"

"Not now, Madi," Vida said with a smile, "I'm in a groove!"

Vida went back to her tables again, and a sly smile stretched across Madi's face. Taking out her morpher, Madi pointed it to the CD in her hand, and the CD then appeared in the player, playing the songs on it.

Vida looked up at her sister, eyes wide with excitement.

"Whoa sis, this bumps!" Vida exclaimed, and Madi laughed.

"I told you," She told her sister, then looked over at Xander, "Hey Xander, come check this out. It 'bumps',"

Madi made little finger quotations when she said the word 'bumps', and Xander looked at Madi with one of his proud smiles.

"No can do," He said. Putting a wad of cash in a large envelope marked '$1000', "I'm doing the cash for Toby. He asked moi to do the bank drop for him,"

Xander smiled at her again, walking backwards, and accidentally bumping into Nick.

"Looks like you already dropped it," Nick said to Xander, as he picked it up off the ground and handed it back to Xander, "And not even at the bank. A thousand dollars? Sure could use that kind of cash,"

Xander took the envelope, "We all could,"

"Hey Nick, Emma, come check this out," Madi called over to me and Nick, as she was still standing next to her sister.

I got up from my spot behind the counter, and came over to where Vida, Madi, and Nick were. Picking up a pair of head phones, a funky beat came through the speakers, and I nodded to Vida.

"Not too shabby," I said with a smile, "Can I show you something V?"

She nodded and smiled back at me, and scooted over to make room for me. I quickly took my iPod out, and picked out a song.

"Madi, if you'd do the honors," I said, spreading my arms out to my iPod and the tables. She smiled, took out her morpher, and transferred the song onto one of the records.

I put my headphones back on, and began to work the tables, mixing up whatever Vida had in there before and 'Funky Town'.

Vida smiled at me, excitedly.

"I love it!," She exclaimed, and I turned the tables over to her, taking my headphones off and laying them down, "You're a genius Emma!"

I just smiled, and walked back to the counter.

_You shouldn't be happy about anything, Storm,_

I looked around me, seeking out the voice I had heard, only to find no one around me.

_Nobody really cares about you. Why don't you just run away like you always do? And save yourself the heart ache of losing friends … again._

A pulsing pain vibrated through my temples, and I winced at it.

I quickly walked to the back of the store and to my back pack, where I kept emergency Advils and stuff. Searching through my bag, I found that there weren't any more. Sighing, I rubbed the bridge of my nose, and the pulsing continued.

_You can just never be happy, can you? Why don't you just give up? It's so much easier. It'll make everything disappear….._

I looked around me, wide-eyed, and realized that there was no one around me, but that I had just heard a voice.

Walking quickly, I came to the front of the store, and spotted Xander.

"Hey Xander," I said, as I came over to him, "I'm going for a coffee break. Can you man the register for me for a few minutes?"

Xander smiled and nodded at me.

"Sure thing, mate," He said, and I smiled back gratefully.

"Thanks," I called over my shoulder, as I exited the shop and coming out into the fresh air. Taking a deep breath, my head ache didn't decline, and I let out a loud sigh.

_There's only one thing that can save me now….._I thought to myself, and began walking down the street.

After walking half a block, I came across a small coffee shop marked 'Cameron's Coffee', and entered it.

There was no line, so I quickly got a regular coffee, filled it with lots of cream and sugar, and exited the store. Walking a little farther down the block, I came across an isolated little park, and sat down at one of the benches to try and relax.

My head ache began to fade away slowly, and I leaned my head back on the bench, letting out a relaxed sigh.

_Here they come, Storm…._

I bolted upright as I heard the voice again, and my head ache went insane.

_They're coming to make excuses so that you'll leave. They don't really want you. Nobody wants you. You're useless…._

I jumped up out of my seat, tossed my coffee in the trash bin next to the benches, and immediately began walking back to work.

_I need to tell the rangers what's going on, _I thought to myself.

_Why do you want to tell them? They won't understand….._

The voice went off in my head again, and I began to walk faster to the Porium.

_They're just like everyone else. They won't understand!_

Now I was getting scared that I was becoming delusional and hearing voices in my head, and began to full out sprint to work, becoming more frightened by the second.

_Why do you run back to them? They don't want you! You're useless! You don't. Mean. Anything to them!_

I let out a small yelp as I ran into something hard, and bounced back off of whatever I ran into. Breathing quickly, I looked up into the face of …. Chip.

I let out a sigh of relief, and placed a hand on my chest.

"Holy shit, Chip," I started, "You scared me,"

He abruptly placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me to the side of the sidewalk, and out of earshot of passers-by, and I finally noticed Madi standing at his side.

"Guys, what's wro-" I began, but Madi cut me off.

"Look, Emma," She started, not making eye contact, "There's a thousand dollars missing from the store,"

I looked at her, and waited for her to finish her statement, but after a moment of silence, realized what she was getting at.

"Oh, I get it," I stated, looking at her and Chip with a hurt expression on my face, "I'm the new kid that nobody trusts. Must've just ripped you guys off, huh?"

"Yeah, that just about covers it," Chip said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

I scoffed at him, "So much for friends," I said, and turned around, "It was nice knowing you guys," and walked away.

_I can't believe they actually don't trust me…_I thought, the idea making me feel sick.

_Even though I trusted them….._

I quickly went back to the previous park, put my hand on the tree, and transported myself to the forest. Letting out a shrill whistle, Junky flew to my hand, and saying a spell that Udonna had taught me, I summoned my backpack, filled with several pairs of clothes, all of the money I had, and my drawing pad.

I ignored the feeling that I had forgotten something, and quickly got on Junky, not wanting to go back.

He rapidly ascended into the air, and far enough up so that I looked like a bird in the sky from the ground.

_Don't you see? Nobody ever wants you. They all know you're useless…._

I growled, and looked around me, only to find nothing.

_What the hell is this? _I thought, panicking, and heard the voice chuckle.

_Meet me at the beach and find out…._

I set my jaw in grim anticipation, and jerked Junky the opposite direction.

"C'mon, Junky, we're going to the beach," I mumbled to him, and we flew through the air.

We descended on the beach in a minute, and I hopped off, looking around for a sign of anything. Suddenly, my eyes caught on a glint of metal rising out of the ground, and my eyes widened.

"You!" I exclaimed, taking a step back.

Koragg Chuckled, "I spoke the truth, you know," He said, advancing forwards, "Nobody really wants you. Didn't you figure that out….when your little friend Adrion left?"

My breath hitched in my throat.

"How the hell do you know about that?" I demanded, looking at the knight cautiously.

He ignored me, and continued to advance on me.

"And frankly, I'm surprised that you can't see how useless you are. Always in the way," He stated, and my back hit something hard, blocking me from retreating any more.

He stopped short of me, though, and drew his sword.

"I've come here to do you a favor," He stated, and I looked at him unbelievingly, "I'm here to put you out of your misery, but I will not fight an unarmed opponent,"

Koragg raised his hand, and out of a symbol on the ground rose a sword. It immediately flew to my hand, and seemed to have a life of its own.

"That was the sword which belonged to the first carrier of the Storm," Koragg said, raising his sword, "Now we will see if you truly are useless or not,"

He quickly swung his sword down to strike me, and upon reflex, I blocked it, but buckled under the pressure.

Koragg grunted, and pulled his sword back, swinging it at my neck. I ducked, and dove out of the way, rolling and standing to face him again, sword out and ready. He immediately charged at me, throwing us into a flurry of blows and parry.

I managed to dodge some of them, but Koragg ended up landing several hits on me, where as I gave none in return.

"Why do you continue to fight?" He asked me, as once more I got up off the ground.

"Why do you continue to attack me?" I retorted back, just as frustrated. Instead of an immediate answer though, I moved my sword just in time to block a stab to my chest.

"I attack because I have a goal and purpose!" He said, pushing on his sword and sending me skidding back several feet.

"Oh, and I don't?" I asked, turning to face him, "I swear by this sword, Koragg, I _will _beat you before the day I die,"

He growled at me.

"You will never beat me, for you will fall by my sword!" He yelled at me, swing his sword down to meet with mine, and pinning them both on the ground.

I yelped, as he stepped on my sword, ripping it out of my grasp, and drawing his own sword back.

My eyes widened, and I sent my arms up to block myself, but it was too late. Koragg thrust his sword forward, and through my left shoulder…


	16. Chapter 16

I let out a gasping breath, as he pulled the sword out of my shoulder, and sheathed it again.

"You will not defeat me," He said, as he turned around and began to walk away.

I coughed harshly, as a burning pain spread through my whole shoulder, and I fell to my knees.

"Now," I heard Koragg say, "I will take care of the red ranger,"

"That's what you think!" I heard a familiar voice exclaim, and looked up to see Xander, Nick, Chip, Madi, and Vida all charge at Koragg.

He let out a grunt of surprise, and didn't even have time to get out his sword before he was attacked from all sides by the rangers.

As I watched the fight before me, the pain in my shoulder spread through my whole arm, and I let out a small whimper of pain. Dark red coated the sand that I leaned over top of, and as I stared up at the rangers fight, I saw Koragg retreat into one of his symbols, but not before throwing something at me over his shoulder.

Something silver clattered in front of me on the sand, and before Koragg disappeared completely, he said, "We will meet again, Storm. You will fall by my sword,"

I heard the patter of footsteps across the sand, and the rangers knelt down next to me.

"Emma!" I heard Madi exclaim, placing a hand on my back. I winced at her touch, and she drew her hand back with a hurt expression on her face.

_She probably thinks that I don't care about them anymore…_

I weakly smiled at her, "There's a bruise there, Mads,"

She let out a sigh, and returned the smile.

"We need to get her to root core," Xander said, and everyone nodded.

"Can you stand?" Nick asked me, and I nodded. With his help, I managed to stand, and he slung my right arm over his shoulders to support me.

We all started to walk, but I couldn't go very fast from all the blood I had lost, and pretty soon my vision started to blur.

We were already in the forest by now, and I stopped, looking around and trying to bring everything into focus, but the more I tried, the harder it became.

"Emma!" I heard Nick exclaim, as my knees started to buckle form underneath me, "You guys go ahead and tell Udonna we're coming. I'll get Emma there,"

The rangers nodded, and set off quickly, and Nick turned to me.

"Emma, you're gonna kick my ass for this when you're healed, but forgive me, ok?" He said, and I looked at the blur of Nick, confused.

Suddenly, I felt him scoop me into his arms and pick me up bridal style, almost as if I weighed nothing. He began to walk quickly towards root core, and I leaned my head against his chest comfortably, too tired to argue.

My eyes began to close, and I heard Nick call to me.

"Emma, don't go to sleep!" He said, but his voice sounded distant and far away.

I struggled to keep my eyes open, but it only made them want to close more. Still, I managed to pry them open a little more.

"C'mon, we're almost to root core," He said, and my eyes began to droop again, making the burning in my shoulder and arm lessen and fade.

_Why can't I just go to sleep? _I wondered, and sighed, nestling into Nick's chest even more.

_I'm so comfy…._

"Emma, stay with me here, ok?" Nick said, sounding panicked, "We're at root core, so stay with us until Udonna can get you fixed up,"

In a blur of colors and motions, I recognized that we were in root core from the smell, and familiar whirring sound of magical devices.

"Set her over here, Nick," I heard Udonna's voice, distant and faded. I was taken away from the warmth of Nick's body and placed on something fluffy, but the sudden movement jerked my arm, sending a shock of pain through my shoulder.

I gasped back a yelp of pain, and felt some one slide down the shoulder of my tank top.

More motion was heard, and I smelled some familiar type of liquid.

Abruptly, a fiery sting engulfed my shoulder, and I let out a yelp of pain.

The next few things that happened were fuzzy, and I'm pretty sure that I could pick out the words 'poison' and 'sword'.

_Koragg, that piss-ass. He freaking poisoned me with his sword… _I thought to myself, drawing the conclusion that's what whoever said that was talking about.

Eventually, even though I tried to fight it, sleep overtook my will to stay awake, and my eyelids fluttered all the way closed. I was only aware of a few more motions going on around the room, before I was sucked completely into oblivion, leaving me to wonder until I woke up, if I would make it or not.

_I'd better….. _I thought to myself, before completely blacking out, _I still have to kick Koragg's ass before I die…._


	17. Chapter 17

Slowly, but surely, I made my way into consciousness.

The first thing I became aware of was how quiet everything was, in an almost surreal manner. I couldn't open my eyes just yet, but I felt no pain at all in my shoulder or arm, like nothing had happened.

After few moments of basking in this serene state, I opened my eyes ever so slightly to reveal nothing but white. There were no objects, people, animals, angels, demons, nothing. Just a vast emptiness of white before me.

Just as I began to debate whether this was a good or bad thing, the white slowly began to fade away into color, and I managed to open my eyes more.

It took me a moment to realize just where I was, but as soon as I did, I bolted upright.

I let out a gasp, though, as the sudden movement sent a sharp sting through my shoulder, and I fell back onto the bed.

"Huh? Wha- Holy shit, Emma, you're alive!" I heard a familiar voice say, and felt the warmth of arms around my back and shoulder (luckily not my injured one) in what I recognized as a hug.

"She is?"

"Thanks goodness!"

"Move, I wanna hug her too!"

"She made it?"

A large stampede of footsteps reached my ears, and before I knew what was going on, I was being crushed under a dog-pile group-hug thing. Luckily, it didn't touch my shoulder at all, but it did manage to block the air from my lungs.

"Okay, guys," I got out in a raspy voice, "Great to see you too, but easy on the airways, huh?"

Everyone piled off of me, and I took in a large breath, and grinned widely as I propped myself up.

"I can't believe you're actually alive," Madi said, and I looked over to her, confused.

"Why?" I asked, and looked around at everyone. They all gave each other sideways glances, and nobody spoke.

"C'mon guys, I'm alive. I'm right here. You can tell me," I said comfortingly, looking around to each of them.

Madi let out a shaky sigh, and looked towards Xander for help.

"Well, you kinda went off on your own, mate," He started, and I nodded to him.

"I remember that part. Me and Koragg fought, I got shanked in the shoulder, you guys kicked ass, and we went to root core, right?" I said, and Xander nodded uneasily, "So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that Koragg's sword was poisoned," Chip started, "And since you got hit on your shoulder, it was close enough to your heart that it could've killed you if we hadn't gotten to root core sooner,"

I looked at him, my mouth hanging open slightly.

"Oh," Was all I managed to say, and suddenly we all heard approaching footsteps. Looking up, I saw Udonna approaching us with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Emma dear," She said with a smile, "I see you're up. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said, slightly skeptical.

_What is this lady trying to do?_

"If you wouldn't mind, every one, I'd like to make sure Emma is ok before we have any more visitors," Udonna said, and slowly everyone filed out of the room, with Nick exiting last. Before he left though, he glanced at me over his shoulder, and upon catching my eye, quickly looked away and walked out of the room.

"What's wrong with Nick?" I asked Udonna, as she took out a roll of bandages.

"He was very worried about you," She started, beginning to undo my current bloodstained bandages around my shoulder, "I think he's upset now."

"Why?" I asked, incredulously, "I'm alive, aren't I?"

She chuckled at me, disposing of the bloody bandages, and beginning to put on new ones.

"You will figure it out," She said to me, as she finished putting the bandages around me shoulder, "Now, put on some fresh clothes, and go hang out with your friends,"

I pulled myself up slowly, so I didn't open up my shoulder again, and stood. Finding it relatively easy to move, I began to get dressed, and Udonna left the room.

I quickly threw on my favorite pair of skinny jeans, them being slightly baggy and having too many holes, and threw on my favorite dark maroon t-shirt, then slipped on my chucks.

I exited the room I was in, and immediately went to the balcony where I knew I would find Udonna.

"Udonna?" I asked, standing in the entry way to the balcony.

"Yes, dear?" She asked, turning around to face me. Slowly, I walked over to her, and stood facing her.

"When I battled Koragg, I swore I would beat him before the day I died," I said, looking at the ground, "And I can't really do that without learning how to fight, so….."

Udonna smiled at me, "Of course I will help you. But I can only help you use magic, as I have no experience in sword fighting or hand-to-hand combat,"

I grinned widely at her, "That's better than nothing. Thanks Udonna!" I called over to her, as I turned to exit the balcony. Coming into the entry way, I turned, but ran into some one.

"Ooof- Oh, hey Nick," I said with a smile, as I regained my balance and looked up at him. He glared back down at me, angrily, then turned on his heel and walked away.

As I watched him go, I wondered what I could've done to make him so upset at me. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, and walked into the main room of root core, just in time to hear the front door slam closed.

"What's the matter with him?" I heard Vida ask, and I came and sat down at the table with the rest of the rangers, putting my head in my hands.

"He's mad at me," I said, my response coming through muffled.

"Why?" Chip asked from nest to me, and I took my head out of my hands.

"I honestly have no idea," I started, and sighed.

"I don't know why he would be mad at you," Vida started, "He stayed at root core every night that you were out,"

I looked at her, "How long _was _I out?" I asked, and Madi giggled.

"Three days," She said with a smile, "But we told Toby you had the flu, so you ought to be fine,"

"Speaking of Toby, we better get to work," Xander pointed out, and we all stood up and exited root core, but not before leaving Udonna a note to tell her where we were going.

"Someone call Nick on his morpher and tell him what's going on," Chip suggested, and Madi nodded, whipping out her morpher, and dialing a number.

"Hey, Nick, we're all heading back to work, and just thought you should know. See ya later," She said, and hung up the 'phone'.

As we walked along, the rangers seemed to be debating on something, and finally Xander spoke up.

"Hey, Emma, I'm sorry I accused you of stealing the money," Xander started, but Vida spoke up.

"We were all guilty of accusation, and we're sorry we didn't trust you," She said, looking at the ground.

I smiled at them all.

"It's fine, guys, you just didn't know who to trust," I said, trying to comfort them, "And I don't think that knowing my favorite color is high on the 'I know you' list,"

We all laughed, and Chip looked at me excitedly.

"Then we'll just have to get to know each other better!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, and I laughed harder at his childish attitude.

Soon enough, we were back at the Porium, and we all entered to start the day at work.

Slipping on my button up shirt for work over top of my other shirt, I looked around, feeling like I was forgetting something.

"Good morning, my under-experienced, over-paid employees!" I heard Toby call, as he entered the store. I smiled at him as he walked by.

"Good morning, Toby," I said, and his eyes widened as he saw me. Suddenly, the bell to the front door opened, and Nick walked in, stopping short in the doorway as the door closed behind him

"You're alive!" He said, sarcastically, and I laughed uncomfortably, but couldn't help but notice Nick grow tense out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh, you forgot this here," Toby said, handing me my iPod. Immediately, I put it in my back pocket.

"Thanks," I responded, and Toby cut his eyes at me, focusing on my face.

"You really _did_ have the flu," He said, "Are you sure you're ok?"

I looked at him weirdly.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

Toby shrugged, and began to walk to his office.

"You just look sicker than usual, is all," He threw back over his shoulder, "Keep up the good work, everybody!" And with that said, shut the door to his office.

My mouth hung open slightly, and I stared at where Toby just left. Not able to hold it in anymore, every one began to laugh, myself included.

As we finished laughing, I saw Nick walk right by the register and to the back room, without even saying as much as a hello to anyone.

"Aww, don't worry Emma," Xander said, poking my nose playfully, "Toby didn't mean it that way,"

I slapped his hand away with my good arm, and stuck my tongue out at him playfully. Xander just rolled his eyes, and walked away to do something else.

"Wow, you're NEVER going to live that one down!" Vida howled, as she stepped onto the podium that her tables sat on, smile still intact on her face. I blushed.

"Am I really that pale?" I asked Madi, as she walked by. She hesitated for a moment, then stuck her arm next to mine.

I looked at Madi's perfectly even skin tone, then to my arm. It was like looking at the difference between Jacob Black and Edward Cullen.

I winced at my arm, and Madi gave me a sympathetic look.

"Don't worry, you'll get tanner," She said, trying to cheer me up, and walked away

Chip laughed as he strolled by.

"Emma, you're like a vampire!" He exclaimed, and pointed to my mouth, "Open up, I wanna check for fangs,"

I glared at him, and punched him on the arm.

"I'm not a vampire, Chip," I said, and he rubbed his now bruised arm.

"Whatever you say, Count Emma," He said in a creepy voice, and darted away before I could do anything else.

I sighed, and shook my head.

_I can't believe what I got myself into…_

The thought made me smile, and I looked around to my new found friends.

_Or the people I got myself into it WITH….._


	18. Chapter 18

"Gather round, rangers," Udonna called to us, as we sat around root core a few days later, "And hear the story of the beast stallion whose strength was known across the land – the legendary Catastros!"

Suddenly, out of the Xenotome, a ghostly image of a white stallion rode towards us, and disappeared into the crystal ball on the oak table.

"Many have tried in vain to break the mightiest creature of them all," Udonna continued, and we all watched the crystal ball as it showed many people trying to capture a black stallion, "But Catastros was stronger than a hundred men, and no one was able to harness his fearsome power. Catastros fled int the forest during the battle of good and evil. But before the seal closed, evil reached up, and dragged Catasrtos own to the lowest depths of the pit,"

Suddenly, in the crystal ball, an eye flashed across the surface, seemingly staring straight at me. My heart beat immediately stopped, and fear ripped through me. In an instant, though, the eye faded away, leaving us only in the sound of a sudden storm outside.

"That was the scariest story I have ever heard," Chip exclaimed, and I snapped out of my trance, "Tell it again!"

"Even I'm a little freaked out," Vida admitted, looking at the crystal ball warily, then at everyone else, "Just a little," She defended herself, when she saw the disbelieving gazes we all sent her.

"Well, I'm not scared," Xander said smugly and suddenly thunder crashed, and the lights began to flicker, finally going out.

My heart beat picked up dramatically, as the image of the eye on the crystal ball flashed through my mind. I jumped, even more scared, when I felt something brush my arm.

"Relax, it's me," I heard Nick whisper in my ear, his breath tickling my neck. He placed a comforting hand on my forearm, and I immediately pulled away from him and out of his grasp.

_What the hell does he think he's doing? He doesn't talk to me for days and acts mad at me, then gets all up in my space and tries to be a good friend? What the shit is he thinking?_

After a few more moments, the lights went on, and I turned to see Nick on the other side of the table as me, and Xander in Madi's arms?

"Not scared, huh?" Madi said, and dropped him on the ground.

He looked up at her from the floor, and smiled.

"Just making sure you're safe," Xander said, and stood up and brushed himself off.

I stifled a laugh at him.

"You guys can't possibly be scared of a little horse," Nick stated, coming around the table to stand next to Chip.

I sat on the table, as Udonna came down to stand in front of us all.

"Make no mistake," She began, "Catastros is a force to be reckoned with, Nick,"

"But since Koragg has control over him, he must be tamed, right?" I spoke up, looking at Udonna.

"Yes, but Catastros remains loyal to Koragg to this day," Udonna responded, and I nodded in understanding.

Suddenly, a pair of footsteps approached the main room, and Clare walked through the door.

"Don't you just love a good brainstorm?" She asked, as she stood in front of us, "Washes away the stress of the day,"

I stifled a laugh as I looked at Clare. Steam came off of her head, which was covered in what looked like… whipped cream?

"Clare," Madi started, pointing to her hair, "Y-you're steaming,"

"I know," Clare said, nonchalantly, "I crossed a hot-cocoa spell with a protection spell. It keeps me warm on these cold, stormy nights,"

I let out a giggle as I looked at her again. Poor Clare, didn't even realize she had a head full of whipped cream!

Vida stepped forwards, and said between laughs, "Your hair!"

"Huh?" Clare asked, and raised a hand to her hair, and brought it back down, tasting what was on her finger.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, "I forgot to omit the part about the toppings! I'm allergic to whipped cream!"

We all stopped laughing and leaned away from her, as she held her hand over nose.

"Ah-AH-CHOOOO!"

Ker-SPLAT!

My mouth hung open in shock as I watched Clare sneeze, blowing whipped cream directly at Udonna, and hitting her in the face.

Everything was quiet, as all of us stared in shock at just what happened.

"Humph," Udonna declared, and stormed out of the room.

I quickly stifled my giggled and stepped forwards, holding my hands out.

"Finishio!" I said, and in a poof of grey magic, Clare's hair was back to normal.

She let out a sigh of relief, and smiled at me.

"Thanks Emma," She said, then pointed to where Udonna had stormed out of the room, "Well, I, uh, better go-"

"Yeah," I said, trying to stifle my laughter, "You should,"

Clare nodded, and ran out of the room after Udonna.

Not able to hold it in anymore, I burst out laughing, and everyone joined me.

By the time we were done laughing, Udonna and Clare had re-entered the room, and stood off to the side watching us.

When I finished laughing, I looked up into Udonna's un-amused face, and immediately stood up.

"Ermm…. Sorry, 'donna," I said, with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of my neck. I heard scuffles behind me, and realized that the rangers had gotten off the ground also.

A sly smile slid onto Clare and Udonna's faces.

"That's quite alright," Udonna said, walking forward as I took steps back, "Clare and I were just about to have our _own _fun,"

I stopped walking as I hit the oak table behind me, and gave Udonna a wary look.

"Enta Fuma!" Udonna called, and white magic shot out at me and the rangers.

"Sheildo!" I immediately countered, and a grey wall of magic surrounded us all.

"Rebuta!" I said, and the magic that was thrown at us, bounced back to Udonna and Clare.

I let the shield I had put up around us down, and laughed at what I saw.

Udonna and Clare – with multi-colored clothing and hair!

Udonna wore the same clothes she had before, but this time they were rainbow colored, and her hair was now bright green!

Clare also wore the same clothes, but they were colored a neon pink, green, and orange, and her hair was a bright purple afro!

The rangers and I were on our knees laughing, and I heard Udonna undo the spell, and wait for us to finish.

I wiped my eyes as I pulled myself up with the help of the oak table, and sat on it again, smiling at Udonna.

"That was very good, Emma," Udonna commented, once the rangers had stopped laughing also.

"I've been practicing," I said, with a lopsided grin.

"Good," She said, and clapped her hands. Just like on the first night, six sleeping bags appeared, "Now, off to bed,"

We all got ready for bed, changed into PJs, you know, the usual, and crawled into our respective sleeping bags.

"Goodnight," Udonna called to us, clapping her hands, and the lights went out.

I laid there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, and listening to the wind howl outside. The image of the eye kept flashing through my head, and I shuddered as a chill swept down my spine.

Soon, though, the sound of snoring and heavy breathing joined the crash of thunder, and lightning cast shadows all along the wall.

For what felt like hours, I tossed and turned in my sleeping bag, feeling uneasy. Finally, after my eyes began to droop, but my mind wouldn't rest, I managed to fall asleep….

I bolted upright, and looked around immediately. I was in root core. I was safe. I was in root core.

_Where is everybody?_

I wondered sleepily, and got up out of my sleeping bag. Nobody else was in the room, and their sleeping bags were left empty in the coldness of the night.

I stood up, and looked around again, following what looked like a line running across the floor. It led all the way through root core, and onto the balcony. As I stood in the entry way, I barely saw through the storm that raged outside that the line led to something in the middle of the balcony.

Cautiously, I stepped onto the balcony, letting the rain pelt me and the wind whip my hair. I approached whatever it was slowly, and stopped in front of it.

Kneeling down, I put my hand on it, and it didn't move.

_What-_

A flash of lightning bolted across the sky, illuminating the scene before me, and I gasped, jerking my hand back.

Blood coated the floor, and I realized with horror that the 'line' I had followed was really beads of blood littered across the ground.

A giant puddle of blood sat amidst the smaller ones, and I saw in all its gory wonder what, or who, sat in it.

Madi.

Chip.

Vida.

Xander.

Nick.

And all of them dead. Their eyes stayed wide and open, gazing lifelessly at the storming sky, and fresh blood dripped from their mouths and onto the hard floor.

I don't know how long I sat there for. In the freezing cold rain, and simply staring at the lifeless bodies that lay before me. The lifeless bodies that were once my friends.

"Don't you see?"

I heard a familiar voice ask, and didn't need to look up to know that it was Koragg in my head again.

"This is why you don't belong. You never bring anything but pain and death into friendships. This is your entire fault!"

I snapped my head up to meet Koragg's visor.

"It's not! I didn't do this!" I cried back to him desperately, trying to convince myself it was a lie.

"Yes you did!" He accused me, taking his sword out and pointing it at me, "You could've helped them but you didn't!"

"I didn't know that they needed me!" I shouted frantically, as the rain seemed to pound harder and harder against me, and not even washing away the blood on the balcony. Like it would be there forever.

"You stupid girl, it's because of you that they are dead!" He shouted back, stepping closer, "If you hadn't arrived they would not have ended up like this! They wouldn't be dead! Don't you see? Their death is on your hands! IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

I let out a gasping breath, and bolted upright, looking around me. I was back in root core, and in my sleeping back. I took a peek at the sleeping bag next to me, and saw Madi's snoozing face, as her chest moved up and down while she breathed.

I let out a sigh, and wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

_It was just a dream… It was just a dream…._

I thought to myself, and finally I stood up, walking over to the window seat that sat in the main room of root core, but not before grabbing my pillow.

I curled up against the wall, hugging my pillow and looking out the window. As I began to calm down from my nightmare, I became aware of a dull throbbing in my shoulder where Koragg had stabbed me.

Pulling my shirt down to reveal my shoulder, I looked at the bandages, and found them bloodless and clean.

I let out a sigh, glad that I hadn't re-opened my wound, and so pulled my shirt back up. After another hour or so of sitting there, I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was about four in the morning, and decided that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle of fabric, and someone gasp, and realized that someone must be up too.

Immediately, I froze, and pushed as far against the wall as I could to remain unnoticed. Whoever was awake was breathing heavily, and I could practically feel the panic radiating off of them.

_They must've had a bad dream too….._

As I listened to this person breath heavily, and eventually calm down, I wondered if I should go over there and check on the, but finally decided against it. After another hour, I'm pretty sure that they must've fallen asleep, and I relaxed against the wall.

_This is going to be a long day…_


	19. Chapter 19

After another hour, it was 6:00, and I decided that it was early enough for me to 'get up'. I stood, and made my way over to one of Udonna's spell books, searching for the right spell. Upon finding it, I chanted quietly,

"Morna Coffa,"

In an instant, there was a cup of coffee on the table in the center of the room, filled with just the right amount of cream and sugar.

Smiling, I began to make my way over to it, then backtracked, and looked at the spell book again. Finding the new spell I was looking for, I chanted that one quietly, also.

"Clotho tera,"

In a flash of grey light, I was wearing my favorite pair of skinny jeans, chucks, and a grey short sleeved t-shirt with little skulls on the bottom right corner.

I grinned widely.

_Maybe I'm not so bad at this magic thing after all…_

I sat down at the oak table without waking anyone up, and began to draw, while sipping my coffee.

"You really like that balcony, huh mate?"

I sighed, and continued to draw, un-phased by the voice next to my ear. I did happen to notice that I had been drawing the scene in my dream, though, and shuddered as I remembered it.

"You better watch who you sneak up on, _mate, _or you just might get punched in the face some day," I responded with a smile to Xander, covering up my shaken feelings, "Coffee?"

He took a seat next to me, still dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt with holes in it.

"Sure," He said.

"Morna Coffa," I chanted the spell quietly, and in another flash of grey magic a coffee mug filled with coffee appeared in front of Xander.

He immediately picked it up, and took a sip, smiling.

"You sure know how to make good coffee, mate," He said with a smile, which I returned.

"You know, if you weren't magical, you wouldn't be able to do these spells," Xander said, after a moment of silence. I looked up to him.

"Anybody can do these," I said, closing my drawing pad, and putting my pencil away, "I'm not magical. I can't morph into weird, giant mystical things like the rest of you,"

Xander laughed, and set his coffee mug down.

"Don't give up hope, mate," He said, standing up and ruffling my hair as he walked by.

I sighed, and looked at my coffee cup.

"Not like I ever had hope to begin with," I said quietly, feeling extremely miserable all of a sudden.

_It's just from lack of sleep….._

I convinced myself, and yawned loudly.

"Emma?" I heard Udonna call, and I looked over at her.

"Yeah?" I answered, walking over to where she stood.

"When you fought with Koragg, the rangers informed me that he gave this to you before he fled," She said, and held out the sword that I had used to fight Koragg.

"Yeah," I responded, and took the sword from her, and looking at it curiously.

"This was the sword that first belonged to the original Storm," Udonna explained cautiously, giving me a wary look.

"I know, Koragg said that," I responded bitterly, feeling anger growing inside me just _thinking _of him. I handed the sword back to the sorceress, and she set it on top of an old trunk.

"Alright," She stated, "I just thought you ought to know that," And walked away briskly. I looked after her with a quizzical look on my face, then returned to the oak table.

_Well, that was weird….._

After four more rangers were up, and after five more magical cups of coffee (I had another one) we were off to work.

"Good morning, Toby," Vida called to our boss as we entered the 'Rock Porium'. He looked down at us from the ladder he was on, and climbed down.

"Good morning, everybody!" He said with a smile, in his very Toby-like way, "You all look wonderful today," He continued, looking around at everyone until he got to me, then grimaced.

"Except you, Emma, you look tired," He said, and walked by me to go do something else.

I rolled my eyes at him, but a small smile made its way onto my face.

_That's just Toby's way of saying, 'Hey Emma, you need some cover-up under your eyes'…._

Chip walked around to the front of me, and put a hand on his chin, like he was thinking.

After a moment, he took it off.

"Yep, Toby was right," Chip stated, pointing to me, "You definitely look tired,"

"Maybe I should try sleeping with a teddy-bear like you, Chip," I said sarcastically, but smiled to let him know I wasn't trying to be mean.

Chip gasped.

"Alas, I do believe that sounded like a challenge!" He said in a bold, British accent, grabbing two toilet plungers ad tossing one to me, "En garde!"

He quickly 'stabbed' for my stomach, and I blocked it immediately with my plunger, grinning mischievously.

"En garde!" I declared, and we were sent into a flurry of hits and blocks.

Nobody seemed to be winning, until at one point I locked 'swords' with Chip, and thought of what Koragg did to beat me. Quickly, I brought our swords down, and stepped on his, but instead of holding it down, I used the heel of my shoe to kick it away, and brought my own weapon to his neck.

"Alas, fair fellow," I said with a smile on my face, "I've beat you,"

Chip raised his hands in the air as a gesture of peace, smiling also.

"Indeed you have, sweet maiden," Chip countered, "And a fight well-played,"

My smile grew wider at the words we were using.

"Thank you, my good man," I said, taking my sword off his neck, "Same compliments to you as well,"

I tossed the plunger back to where it went, and suddenly wondered why we had two toilet plungers at the Porium.

As I turned around and stood next to Chip, clapping erupted from around the store, and I immediately blushed as I realize that the customers, my friends, and Toby had been watching the entire time. Instantly, I bowed to the crowd, wishing that they would just leave so I didn't have to be embarrassed about it anymore.

As the crowd cleared out, Vida, Nick, Madi, and Xander came up to Chip and I.

"That was great!" Vida exclaimed, "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Chip smiled widely.

"I took fencing classes last summer!" He exclaimed, and everyone looked at me for an answer.

"I didn't learn anything," I responded, and held my hands up, "I just totally winged it,"

Before anyone got a chance to comment, the ranger's morphers and my iPod went off, and Xander flipped his morpher open.

"Let's go," He said, and we all sprinted out of the store.

I had no idea where we were going, so followed everyone else to an abandoned parking lot just in time to see Koragg combine with Catastros.

I immediately grew bitter when I saw him.

"Damn, I wish I had my sword right now," I mumbled under my breath, and a sudden Idea came to me.

"Dennum sorda!" I said, and in a flash of grey light, my sword appeared in front of me, and I immediately picked it up, ready to chop Koragg's sorry ass into pieces.

The rangers also morphed, and we all stood, ready to fight.

But next, Koragg said some strange spell, and in a flash of light, he was a giant megazord combined with Catastros.

Growling, I let out a shrill whistle, and Junky was at my side, ready to ride when needed.

"How do we fight him without our megazord powers?" Vida asked desperately.

"Good question," Madi countered, and I glared up at the giant Koragg.

"I got this one," I said to everyone, and started forward, Junky in hand.

"No way," Nick said, catching my arm, and preventing me from going any further. I felt Junky bristle when Nick grabbed my arm, and was tempted to sic Junky on Nick.

"Why not?" I snapped back, glaring angrily at Nick.

_I don't want to be useless! I want to kick Koragg's sorry little ass!_

"Don't you remember what happened last time?" Nick asked, and I could tell that he was exasperated, "We have to work together to beat him,"

Looking away, I realized he was right. I could fight Koragg when he was down to normal size, but not when he was giant.

"Mystic titan, Dragon formation!" The rangers chanted, and they were changed into their dragon form.

I jumped onto Junky, and flew to their side as they charged at Koragg.

Almost immediately, Koragg was hit by one of the ranger's fireballs, and we turned to face him again.

"That was nothing!" Koragg exclaimed, and swiped his sword at the rangers. A dark purple shot of magic lashed out at the rangers, breaking them out of their dragon formation, and knocking them onto the ground.

I managed to fly out of the way just in time, and couldn't do anything to help the rangers.

_Why am I so useless? _I mentally growled at myself, and watched as Koragg approached us.

"Get up and fight!" He exclaimed, and I felt anger growing more intense in me by the second.

_He is NOT getting to them no matter what! I WILL beat him before the day I die!_

Setting my jaw, I flew up in front of him.

"Oh, I'll fight alright!" I exclaimed, as I drew my sword out in front of me.

Koragg seemed taken aback.

"I thought I killed you!" He exclaimed, and I grinned wickedly at him.

"Guess not," I responded, "Damn, what a bummer,"

He growled at me, and drew his sword out in front of himself.

"Your defeat will be swift this time," He said, and held his shield up, "Wolf attack!"

Dark purple magic shot out at me, and I flung my arms out in front of myself.

"Sheildo Rebuta!" I shouted out, and I giant grey wall of magic appeared in front of myself, and all the magic that was directed at me bounded back to Koragg. Instead of hitting him, though, the magic returned back to his shield, leaving him unharmed.

I paled visibly.

_I am so screwed…_

Suddenly, Koragg let out a gasp of pain, and stumbled forwards, the turned around.

"You dare turn against me, hag?" He asked to some one behind him, and I looked around to see Necrolai.

She sneered at him haughtily.

"That'll teach you to lie to Morticon," She said, and immediately flew away.

"My own allies are turning against me," Koragg said to himself, "I must deal with this. Basalechi Infredo!"

A giant seal appeared under Koragg, and just as he was about to get away into it, Nick jumped up, still in his titan mode, and grabbed onto Koragg, going down with him.

"Nick!" I shouted, taking Junky into a sharp dive to make it into the symbol too.

"C'mon Junky," I mumbled to my broom, as the symbol began to close, and we were almost there.

With a harsh crash, the symbol closed, and I had just enough time to pull Junky up without crashing completely into the ground. The nose of Junky caught on the ground, sending me flying forwards and onto the cement of the road, but not very hard thankfully.

I grunted as I hauled myself up, brushed off my clothes, and picked up my sword, saying the summoning spell again to make the sword go back to root core. Looking around, I spotted Junky, and quickly ran over to him.

"Junky, you okay?" I asked him, scooping him up. Not like he would answer me, but he did seem to have a life of his own sometimes.

He flew up without help, and faced me, putting his 'nose' I guess you could say, in my hand, like he wanted me to look at it.

"C'mon, we'll check you out at root core," I said to him, placing his across my shoulders, and running to my friends.

"Let's get to root core," I said, and everyone nodded. We all went to the nearest tree, and entered the forest through it, and sprinted until we were safely inside the main room of root core.

"Udonna!" We all called out, and heard her come down the stairs.

"What?" She asked, flustered, "What is it?"

"Nick's gone!" Vida exclaimed promptly.

"We tried to contact him on his morpher, but he didn't answer," Chip filled in.

"We're battling Koragg, then – poof!- Nick gets sucked into a seal with Catastros!" Xander exclaimed, and I nodded in emphasis.

"Nick must've disrupted an evil spell and warped the dark seal," Udonna said, "But since we don't know what dimension Nick is in, I can't transport you there,"

"We have to do _something,_" I said to the rangers, and walked over to the oak table, "C'mon guys,"

We all looked at the crystal ball for a moment, and nothing appeared.

"Even the crystal ball can't find him!" Madi exclaimed.

"This is bad," Vida said, "This is _really _bad,"

"No shit," I mumbled to myself, putting my face in my hands.

_How are we ever going to get Nick back?..._


	20. Chapter 20

Vida, Madi, Chip, Xander and I walked through the woods, but not before I asked Udonna to look at Junky. She said he'd be fine, and that magical brooms heal just like humans do.

…_..What the hell?_

"I just can't wrap my head around it," Vida said, almost mournfully, "Nick's gone. Really gone,"

"Well, technically he's not really gone, just in another dimension," Chip reasoned, trying in vain to comfort Vida. We all gave him odd looks.

"Technically," He added uncomfortably.

"Even Udonna can't find a spell to bring him back," Xander said, kicking a stray rock in his path, "Nick's in big trouble this time,"

Suddenly, something jumped down in front of us, and in a flash of grey magic, my sword was in my hand. I immediately pointed it at the thing in front of us.

"Nick's in trouble?" The thing asked, and turned around to us, only to come face to face with my sword.

"Who are you?" I demanded, looking the thing in the eyes.

He chuckled nervously.

"I'm Phineas, the troblin," He explained, spreading his arms out to himself.

"Oh, Nick told us about you!" Chip exclaimed, and cautiously, I lowered my sword, but kept it in my hand, "He never said you were so…..freaky,"

"Oh, stop," Phineas exclaimed, "I'm blushing!"

_I couldn't tell…._

"Come here!" Phineas said with a smile on his face, opening his arms to hug Chip.

Chip stuttered for a moment, but held his hands up as Phineas tried to hug him.

"Oh, too soon?" The troblin asked, and turned to see Vida, Madi, and I.

"Oh, girls!" He exclaimed, apparently surprised at seeing us, "Gotta love 'em. Now what was the deal with Nick being in danger?"

I sighed, and answered him.

"Nick disrupted a dark seal, got sucked into it with Catastros the demon horse, and is now in an evil dimension that we can't get him out of,"

Phineas nodded his head naturally.

"I see," He said, like I had just told him the simplest thing in the world, "So, by moping around, you guys are really…._helping _Nick. Sorry, you know, I just get things confused sometimes,"

I looked at the troblin, my eyebrows raised and mouth agape slightly.

_Holy shit, he's RIGHT. I'm not gonna help Nick by just standing around…._

Without giving it a second thought, I turned on my heel and began to walk to root core.

"Where are you going?" Chip called to me, as I broke into a full sprint.

"I'm going to save Nick!" I yelled back, and continued to root core.

_I'm not going to lose someone else. Not again…._

I entered the main room of root core, and went directly to the large bookcase that held all of Udonna's spell books, filling up my arms and bring them to the oak table.

"Emma!" I heard Xander call, as the front door of root core opened and closed, "Emma, Udonna said that there were no spells to contact or bring back Nick,"

"She said that to get him back, we need to say the spell Koragg used backwards," Madi added on.

I looked up at the ranger's hopeless faces.

"Guys, do you really think that by doing nothing we're going to get Nick back?" I asked them, and paused, "I'm giving it a shot,"

I looked down at the spell book and began to flip through it again, searching for any signs of a spell to help Nick.

I was so engrossed in my search, that I didn't notice until later that the rangers had sat down, and begun to search with me. I smiled at that.

After what felt like hours, I opened my sixth spell book and my eye immediately caught on the first incantation.

A SPELL FOR TRANSFERRING MEMORIES

"Hey guys, check this out," I said, and they gathered around me, "A spell to transfer memories. I could transfer someone's memory of Koragg's spell into someone else's mind so that they could write it down or something,"

"It's brilliant!" Chip exclaimed with a bright smile, "But who's going to do it?"

"I am," I immediately spoke up, my voice steel. I needed them to know that I was _not _taking no for an answer.

"Me too," Xander said.

"So then who's saying the spell?" Chip asked, and I looked at Madi hopefully.

"Me?" She asked incredulously, pointing to herself.

"Madi, it's just a little spell, we'll get Nick back, and you work best with magic out of all of us," I said, looking at her pleadingly, "Please Madi,"

She seemed to be debating mentally for a moment, then sighed in defeat.

"Show me the spell," She said, and I stood up from my chair, and showed her the in the book. I walked over to stand next to Xander, and we both looked at each other nervously.

Madi raised her hands, and began the spell.

"Rembra Tero!" She said.

We waited for a moment, but nothing happened.

"It didn't work," Madi said, sounding like she was about to cry.

"Madi," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You tried. We'll just have to find another way to get Nick back,"

She looked up at me, and a small smile stretched across her face, but before she had time to respond, the crystal ball began to show something.

"But right now, we need to go kick evil butt," I said, looking at the monster, and running out the door with the rest of the rangers. Almost immediately, Junky was flying alongside me and the rangers as we ran, and soon we stopped somewhere close to the new mall.

"Holy….." I mumbled, as I saw the thing before us. It looked like it was made out of rocks and boulders, but with a face slapped onto it.

Suddenly, my mind flashed back to when we battled Koragg, and how much easier it was to fight him when he wasn't in his giant zord mode.

Immediately, and without thinking, I ran at the monster, my sword appearing in my hand as I ran.

"Boulder blast!" The monster called out, and about ten boulders were sent my way, one of them catching me square in the stomach.

I flew backwards, and my sword sailed out of my hand as I hit the ground roughly.

I coughed and gasped for breath, as I quickly got to my feet.

_Shit, I feel like I just got impaled by a 2 ton basketball…._

Without even summoning it, my sword flew off the ground and into my hand again, and I looked at it weirdly, wondering why it had just done that. I didn't get to dwell on the idea, though, as the rock monster did indeed turn into a giant zord thing, and with the ranger's powers!

Immediately, the rangers went into their titan mode, and I jumped on Junky, sending my sword away for now. I flew up to in front of the rangers, but was pulled back by something.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, as Xander put me behind him.

"You better let us handle this one, mate," He said, and all the rangers charged at the rock monster.

The monster wasn't phased in the least bit by the ranger's attacks, but instead laughed at them and sent them all crashing backwards towards me, exerting no effort at all.

"Boulder blast!" He shouted, and I immediately flew in front of the rangers again.

"Sheildo!" I chanted, holding my hands out, and a giant grey wall of magic formed around the rangers and I.

I could feel, though, that as the more boulders pounded against the shield, the weaker it became, until finally the shield broke, and Junky and I flew backwards.

I let out a small squeak of pain as my back hit something hard, but instead of falling to the ground, something wrapped around me and held me up.

"Chip?" I asked, looking up and meeting a yellow bird zord thing.

"Who else?" He asked, and I could practically imagine the goofy grin on his face.

"Hey guys, I just remembered Koragg's spell!" Xander exclaimed suddenly, and I looked towards him, though it was kind of hard considering Chip still had his wings wrapped around me.

"Then say it backwards!" Vida exclaimed.

"Uh, oderfni ichilasab?" Xander said uncertainly, and suddenly a dark seal appeared on the ground, and out if it rode Nick on Catastros.

"Holy….." I heard Chip wonder, and my mouth hung open in shock.

Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through my shoulder, and I choked back a scream of agony.

_Why does it have to start working up NOW?_

"Centaurus Phoenix Megazord!" Nick shouted, and in a flash of red light, he was in a megazord form similar to Koragg's, but his was red and black.

"He combined with Catastros!" I heard Vida exclaim.

"No way!" Xander shouted.

Now, in Nick's hand was a double ended sword like thing, with burning blades.

"I'm not afraid of you!" The monster shouted, charging at Nick.

"Bring it on!" Nick shouted back, blocking the monster's first strike, then the second one.

I immediately began to struggle out of Chip's wings, but he wouldn't let me go.

"Chip, let go! I need to get in there and help Nick!" I shouted up to him.

"Are you crazy?" He said back to me, tightening his wings around me, "You're gonna get killed! And you just barely made it last time!"

I frowned at his logic, unhappy at how true it was.

"Boulder blast!" I heard the monster yell, and my attention was drawn back to the fight.

Nick blocked all of the monster's boulders with…. a fiery mohawk? Then hit the monster himself with his burning hair of doom.

As the monster perished under the mighty hand of Nick's burning mohawk, the ranger's megazord powers were returned to them.

"Our megazord powers!" Madi exclaimed happily, as hers were returned to her.

Suddenly, the loud sound of neighing was heard, and Catastros reared, sending Nick falling off his back.

Catastros quickly trotted over to Koragg, and combined with him.

Looking at Koragg, my shoulder began to throb even more, and soon I was practically writhing in pain.

Coughing out a small noise of pain, nobody heard me, but Nick's head snapped up to look at me. Immediately, I tried to suck it up, and pretend nothing had happened, and focused again on Koragg.

"I don't know how you managed to combine with my mighty Catastros, but I promise you I will find out," Koragg said bitterly to Nick, "Something about you is troubling,"

Nick stood, and faced Koragg.

"I don't understand," He said, his head cocking to the side.

"We will meet again, red ranger," Koragg said, then stepped into a seal and disappeared.

"I don't understand," I heard Nick say quietly to himself.

Unexpectedly, the pain in my shoulder ceased all together, leaving only soreness in its wake.

_That's really weird…._

As the rangers morphed back into their normal selves, Chip set me on the ground, but didn't realize that his arms were still wrapped around me.

"Chip, you can let go of her now, mate," Xander said, and Chip immediately dropped his arms, not realizing that they were still around me.

"S-sorry Emma," Chip started, blushing and scratching the back of his head, "I j-just wanted to make sure you didn't, you know, run out into the battle and-"

"I know Chip," I cut off his bumbling, giving him a smile, "Thanks for looking out for me," 

Chip smiled back at me.

"We better get back to work," Vida said pointedly, "Or Toby's gonna wonder why we always disappear when the Power Rangers show up,"

Everyone agreed, and so began to walk back to work, but after a few moments of walking, I turned around, a wary look on my face.

"Junky," I said lowly, and my broom crept out from behind a mailbox towards me. I swear, if this broom had been a dog, his tail would've been tucked between his legs!

"Junky, go back to root core," I said softly, "I'll see you later, ok?"

Junky seemed to nod, and turned, then flew away, leaving nothing behind.

I sighed, and turned around, walking behind the others to work.

_What am I going to do with him? ….. Or more so, what am I going to do with myself? I feel so useless. I hardly did anything in the last fight! Ugh, why can't-_

"Ow," I said, as I ran into something hard, not noticing where I was going. Looking up, I came face to face with the very last person that I thought wanted to talk to me at the moment.

Looking up into his bright, green-blue eyes, I was at a loss for words, so settled on just walking around him and continuing to work.

"Hey, wait!" I heard him call after me, and grab my shoulder. Immediately, and upon instinct, I jerked away from him. Not because I didn't like him or anything, but because he placed his hand on my still sore shoulder.

"Yeah?" I asked, and faced him. He put his hands in his pockets, and looked at the ground for a moment before speaking.

"Are…. Are you ok?" He said, almost stumbling over his words, like it was the hardest thing in the world to ask.

I looked at him, my brow furrowed slightly.

"Why do you ask me out of every one else?" I countered, trying really hard not to raise my voice.

"You're the one who gets hurt the most," He said defensively, "Why is it such a big deal that I asked?"

I looked at him incredulously, struggling to keep my voice calm.

"For starters, you haven't talked more than necessary to me since my last battle with Koragg," I said, speaking aloud what had been bothering me for the past week or so.

Nick seemed to be struggling to say the right words, and I could tell right off the bat that he was trying to make up a lie. I held my hand out, in a 'stop' motion.

"Don't even," I said, "Either tell me the truth, or don't tell me anything at all. Just don't lie to me,"

Nick looked at me, obviously beaten.

"I heard what you said to Udonna," He started, after a moment of silence, "When you told her that you had told Koragg that you would beat him before the day you died,"

I looked at him, and waited for him to continue.

"What's so wrong with that?" I asked, after Nick didn't finish his sentence.

He sighed in frustration, and looked at the ground again.

"It was the fact that you jumped up off your death-bed, said you were fine, then decided to train to beat our arch enemy," Nick stated, and began to blush lightly, "It just made me mad that you didn't stop to make sure that you were okay, and threw yourself right back into the fray again,"

As his words and their meaning set in, my anger sizzled down considerably.

_He was just trying to look out for me? Well, in his own guy-sort-of-way…_

I smiled softly.

"Nick, I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself," I said, as he raised his eyes to meet mine, "But next time, tell me if you're pissed off at me, ok?"

Nick's face broke out into a smile, and he nodded.

"Sure, but you can't lie to me about being hurt anymore, alright?" He answered back, and I smiled wider.

"Promise," I said, and we pinkie-promised, "C'mon, we better get to work before Toby thinks we're cheating him, or something,"

We quickly walked back to the store, and took up our normal posts. Myself behind the counter, Chip in the comic section, Vida behind her DJ-ing tables, Madi around everywhere with her camera, Xander in the CDs section, lounging on a chair and reading a magazine, and Nick on the other side of the counter as me, and so settled down for another day at work.


	21. Chapter 21

Soon, I saw that it was going to be a slow day, and got out my iPod and my drawing pad, as Nick on the other side of the counter took out a motorcycle magazine and began to flip through it.

I opened my drawing pad to a new page, and started to sketch, while putting my iPod to my 'CALM DOWN' playlist and only putting a single ear bud in.

I was still pretty shaken up from our adventure this morning, and couldn't help but wonder why my shoulder always got sore whenever Koragg was around.

_Damn jerk, probably CURSED me or something….._

"Emma, Nick, would you two go in the back and grab those boxes of records that came in today?" Toby's voice carried through the store.

"Got it," Nick called back, even though we had no idea where Toby actually was.

As we walked into the back room, I noticed that Nick looked like he had a little limp in his step, and was about to ask him if he was ok, but hesitated, stopping in the doorway.

_No, he's fine. If it gets worse I'll ask him… Well, what if it gets worse before I ask him?... maybe he'll think I'm weird for noticing him limp or something….oh, do I ask him or not?_

"Emma, you coming or what?" I heard Nick call to me, and I immediately entered the dark room.

"Where are the boxes Toby needed us to get?" I asked Nick, as we surveyed all of the boxes in front of us in the darkness.

"I guess we're gonna have to look for them," Nick said, and started searching through the pile near his side of the room, and with a sigh, I began working on mine.

After what felt like hours, I finished my side of the room with no luck of finding the records, and growled in frustration.

"Nick, I couldn't find any," I said, turning around, but saw him sitting down instead of searching through the boxes. As I looked closer, though, I saw that his hand was placed directly on his stomach, as if in pain.

"Nick, are you ok?" I asked, my voice apprehensive.

Nick looked up at me, his bright eyes glowing in the darkness of the back room.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" He said playfully, but I could hear the hidden pain behind his words.

I put my hands on my hips, and sighed.

"That's not what I asked," I started, and knelt down in front of him, "Where does it hurt?"

He didn't even have to say anything for me to know that it was his stomach, because even through the darkness of the room I managed to see a bloodstain on his shirt.

Without hesitation, I lifted his shirt as little as possible to reveal a large gash across his stomach. It didn't look very deep, but it was also littered with bruises and laking blood.

"Ooooh," I said, grimacing at it, then looking up at Nick, "Don't ride a demon horse and get away unscathed, huh?"

He let out a short chuckle.

"You got that right," Nick said, and I could practically feel the smile in his voice.

"Let's see," I mumbled to myself, "Ummmm, Healum?" I said, uncertain of the spell at first, but smiled as I saw grey magic appear out of my fingertips and surround Nick's injury. Within seconds, he was healed.

"There ya go," I said with a smile, pulling his shirt back down and standing up. I made my way over to the middle section that Nick and I hadn't searched yet, and began to look through it for any signs of the records.

"I don't get it," I heard Nick say softly, as he walked over to where I was searching.

_There it is… _I thought, as I found the box we were looking for, and picked it up.

"Get what?" I asked, as we exited the back room, and walked to the counter to begin sorting the records.

"How you can be so doubtful of yourself and not even see how powerful you really are," Nick answered, opening the cardboard box.

I sighed, and began sorting the large discs into different genres to be put away from there.

"Anyone can say a simple spell, Nick," I said, picking up an armful of heavy-metal records to put away, "The only thing that make me different is a broom and a sword,"

I walked away to the section where I would put the records in their place, and didn't give Nick the chance to respond.

_I don't think he's right. Anyone could've done that, so it's not like I'm special. I just don't know why he's so convinced that I'm magical…._

After a few moments, everyone was sifting through the records, and putting them where they belonged.

Everyone except Xander.

"Come on, people," He called to the rest of us as we worked, rolling around in an office-chair, "These records won't sort themselves,"

"Oh, kiss my-"

"Xander!" Toby called cheerily, cutting off my obscenities toward the Australian, "I like how you've got everybody…. _working,"_

Toby set something down on the counter, then turned to Xander again.

"You, are a born leader," Toby declared, and went back into his office.

Xander turned around to the rest of us, a proud smile on his face.

"Hear that, guys?" Xander asked us, "Born leader,"

I just rolled my eyes at him.

A moment later, Toby came out of his office with a cardboard cut-out.

"Who's the old guy, boss?" Xander asked, and Toby and I stared at him unbelievingly.

"Who's the old guy?" Toby repeated Xander, shocked, "Guys, this is-

"Jake Bonebreaker!" I said, finishing Toby's sentence, "You know, the guy who put 'metal' in 'metal head'?"

Everyone shook their heads, having no idea who Toby and I were talking about.

"Lead guitar and vocal on-" Toby said, pointing to me to finish his sentence for him.

"The metal mega classic Harry Hatchet," I finished Toby's sentence, and he high fived me.

"Guys, here's your lesson today. Play it. Like it. Class dismissed," Toby finished, and went back into his office again.

"Guys, who wants to take care of the king of metal?" Xander asked, and Nick spoke up first.

"Not me," He said from the front of the store.

"Me either," Madi spoke next, "He's older than my dad,"

"I got things to do," Vida said.

"I'm allergic to heavy metal," Chip offered next, and Xander turned to me.

"I'm more of a screamo person," I said, with a sarcastic smile on my face, "Metal makes my ears bleed,"

I heard snickers from behind me, and stifled my own laugh.

"Fine," Xander said turning to the cut-out, "I'll take care of it myself. Just like everything else around here,"

I smiled, and turned back to sorting records, about halfway through the alphabet, when I heard the familiar sound of magic being used.

"Hello Cincinnati!"

I whipped my head up, and my jaw went slack.

_Holy shit…_

"Whoops," Xander said, guiltily, "There's been a slight magical malfunction,"

Suddenly, all of our morphers/iPod rang out with Udonna's voice.

"Rangers, there's a strong dark magic presence in your area," She said through the phone, and we all looked at each other.

"We can't all split on Toby," Nick said, then looked at me, "Emma and I'll go. You guys help with, uh, heavy-metal boy,"

I was about to protest, but didn't have time to as Nick dragged me out of the store with him. Deciding it would take too much trouble to go back now, I ran along quickly with Nick.

We both morphed into our uniforms as we ran, and eventually found an empty parking lot under a parking deck.

"Nothing down here but a taxi," I mumbled to myself, and stepped forward to look around, but suddenly, the squeal of brakes reached my ears, and I jumped back.

The taxi in front of us, even though having no driver, whipped around to face me and Nick, then morphed into a monster!

"Whoa," I heard Nick say, and I nodded at his statement. This thing was huge!

"Steady, Ems," I heard Nick say softly, and in a flash of grey light, my sword was in my hand, ready and drawn.

With a roar, the monster charged at us, giving me little time for reaction. I immediately threw my sword up to help block, but it didn't seem to do much good as I was pushed back onto the ground.

With a thump, I knew that Nick was on the ground too, and jumped back up to fight again.

Instantly, I ran at the monster, but instead of making a direct hit at it, I dove underneath one of its punches and stabbed it in the back, ripping my sword out quickly and retreating back, but too late. The monster picked me up, and threw me at an approaching Nick.

The impact of my body colliding with his threw us back several feet, and upon landing, I smashed my forearms roughly against the asphalt.

"Holy shit," I said to myself, but got back up again, bending down to Nick to give him a hand up, too.

Straight away, Nick took out his morpher and transformed into the red ranger, while I stayed the same as always.

Nick quickly took the lead and kicked the monster in the chest (or what I assumed was the chest) immediately, and I followed after him.

I brought my sword around, and blocked a hit aimed for my face, and kicked out at the thing's legs, hoping to make it fall. When it did nothing to the beast, it roughly picked me up by the leg and tossed me across the lot.

I rolled to ease my fall, and hopped back up, only to see the monster punch Nick square in the chest to send him flying back into a concrete support beam of the parking deck, and advance on him to finish him off.

Growling, I raised my hands.

"Sheildo!" I called out, and a grey wall of magic appeared around Nick, protecting him from the monster's attack. The monster turned, hearing me call out, and ran at me.

I growled at the monster, and sprinted towards it also. When I was almost touching the monster, I called out.

"Sheildo Rebuta!"

The monster was thrown back all the way across the lot, and I charged at him again to finish him. By now, Nick was up again, and ran alongside me as we charged at the beast, but just as we were ready to kill the thing, we were both blown back.

Coughing, and clutching my stomach, I looked up to see…

"Necrolai!" Nick exclaimed, and I glared at her from my spot on the ground, struggling to stand.

"Who else?" She replied cattily, "And I see you've met my friend,"

The monster jumped up and charged at Nick and I again, and Nick ran to meet it this time.

"What the hell do you want, Necrolai?" I asked the servant of the underworld, glaring at her angrily.

"Oh, I've already got what I want," She said haughtily, then crossed her arms, "But there is something that you have that would be of great use to me," She said, holding her hands out, as dark purple magic gabbed ahold of my iPod in my back pocket, and took it to her hand.

"Hey, give it back!" I yelled at her, but then heard Nick call out something.

"Emma, get the others!" He called, and I ran over to him after a moment of debate on whe ther or not to go after my iPod.

"Why?" I asked, as he put his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"We can't bring this thing down," He said doubtfully, "I need you to use my morpher to call everyone else,"

With a roar, the monster charged at us, and I jumped into action, blocking a hit to us.

"Nick, you call them, I'm a little busy," I said my voice strained under the pressure of the monster's strength. I quickly tried kicking the monster in the chest, and it stumbled backwards a bit, but didn't fall.

I ran at it again, but it simply stretched out a hand and swiped me to the side as if I were nothing.

I quickly rolled as the monster brought his hand down to crush me, then was forced to roll to the other side as he tried to smash me with his other hand.

"I'll get you this time!" I heard Necrolai yell, and looked towards where she was fighting Nick. She flew around to face him as he lay on the ground, hit, and immediately began throwing dark magic at him.

I saw this coming, and held my hand out.

"Sheildo Rebuta!" I called, but as soon as my arm stretched out, the monster brought his foot down on it, crushing it under his entire body weight.

I yelped in pain, and tried to pull my hand free, but to no avail.

"I've got you now!" The monster above me yelled, raising his hand to crush me in another punch. I squeezed my eyes closed, and braced for impact.

"Not if I can help it!" I heard Chip call, and I opened my eyes just in time to see him jump-kick the monster directly in the chest, sending it flying and lifting the weight off my arm.

"I think it's time to end this party," Necrolai declared, and whistled. In an instant, the monster was transformed back into a taxi, and drive away quickly.

"That's just crazy!" I heard Madi exclaim, and they all ran after it, only to be shot down by Necrolai's magic and sent tumbling to the ground.

"That's nothing compared to the power I'll soon have," She said haughtily, and flew away immediately.

"We've got to go after her," I said, and pulled myself up off the ground.

"Wait," Xander said, looking at something on the wall of the parking deck, "Looks like we're on camera,"

I looked up and paled as I saw that the camera on the wall had captured our entire fight.

Immediately, Chip took out his morpher and pointed it to the camera, drawing out the whole video of our fight.

"Let's get to work," Vida said, and they all morphed back into their normal selves, and me into my regular clothes.

We quickly teleported through the trees to work, and I took up my spot behind the register.

_Holy shit, my arm hurts!..._ I exclaimed mentally, and saw Nick giving me a look from across the store. I immediately tried to cover up my pained face, and act natural until I could heal it later, and Nick seemed to fall for it.

I let out a relieved sigh.

_Damn, Necrolai took my iPod too! I wonder why she needed it, though. ….._

I growled lowly in frustration and confusion.

_I'll ask Udonna and everyone else when we get to root core tonight…._


	22. Chapter 22

Throughout the day, the throbbing in my arm never stopped, and bruises were beginning to form where the monster had stepped on me.

"Shit," I mumbled to myself, as I realized they were there, and immediately put my hoodie on so that Toby wouldn't see it.

After a few more agonizing hours, we closed the store, and Toby went home.

"C'mon, guys, let's get to root core," Chip said, and we all nodded, teleporting through the trees to get to the forest, then in front of root core, finally entering it.

"Udonna, we're back!" Vida called out, and Udonna walked into the room, a sullen look on her face that made me cringe.

_Holy SHIT, she's pissed at us…_

"What is this?" She asked angrily, and pointed her wand to Chip's morpher, then the computer-like thing.

We all stared at the video and watched as Nick and I got our butts beaten, Nick get thrown against the wall, me get my arm crushed by a giant taxi monster, and finally the other rangers show up to save us.

Udonna, without even saying anything, pointed to the oak table as she looked at me, and I immediately walked over to it, then sat on it.

"Rangers, you must protect your identity at all cost," She said, going through the cabinets until she found some bandage, "You as well, Emma,"

" 'donna, I don't understand how I can hide my identity at all," I said, as she helped me take my hoodie off, then my work shirt, leaving me in a dark blue tank top.

She was silent for a moment, before a smile stretched across her face.

"I have just the thing for you, dear," Udonna said, and touched a finger to my arm as she said a spell.

She growled in frustration at me.

"How do you always manage to hurt something?" She mumbled to herself, and I rolled my eyes.

_Believe me, I have no idea…._

"Wait," I heard Nick say, pointing to the computer screen thing, "Emma, Necrolai took something from you,"

"Oh yeah," I said, looking at Udonna, "That bitch stole my iPod!"

Udonna raised her eyebrows at me and my anger, then a confused expression took over her face.

"I don't know why," She said, as she bandaged my right arm roughly.

I grimaced as she wound the bandage around my forearm without looking, and Nick was the only one who noticed.

"Udonna!" He called, and she looked up, stopping the torture she was putting me through, "Uhh…. You should probably come look at this,"

Udonna put down the bandages, and walked over to where everyone else was standing.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief, and mouthed a 'thank you' to Nick.

He smiled back.

I picked up the excess bandages Udonna still had to put on my arm, and tried to wind the rest around my right arm with my left hand.

After several tries, I still couldn't succeed on putting the bandages on my arm, and growled at it.

"Damn it," I cursed to myself, debating whether or not to chuck the bandages across the room.

"Here, let me help you, dear," Udonna said, reaching for the bandages in my hands.

"No!" Nick and I said at the same time, and I looked at him curiously.

Nick chuckled nervously, and put a hand on the back of his neck.

"I …. I think I heard Clare call you," Nick said, quickly making up an excuse.

"Oh," Udonna said, then walked out for the room to look for Clare.

I let out a sigh of relief as she left and Nick came over, a smile on his face.

"Thanks," I breathed out to him, and tried in vain again to bandage my arm.

"Mother F-"

"Here," Nick said, taking the bandages from my hands, and cutting off my string of obscenities, "Let me do it,"

Without even giving me time to argue, he began to bandage my arm gently, and taking his time.

"Fine," I grumbled, and let him do it. I watched as he wound the bandages around my arm expertly, almost like he knew exactly what he was doing.

"Nick, have you done this before?" I asked him curiously, and he looked up, bright eyes dancing mischievously.

"I took a medic course with my sister once," He said, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

_A medic course? He always seems so bad ass, though…_

He saw the quizzical look I gave him, and laughed at me.

"Just because I ride a motorcycle doesn't mean I don't know how to take care of people," He said, playfulness lingering in his voice.

I nodded, but another question popped into my mind.

"Nick…" I started hesitantly, rethinking what I was about to ask, "Nick, why did you ask me to come with you? I mean when Udonna told us that there was trouble. Why not pick another ranger?"

He looked up to me, bright eyes tentative, and didn't answer right away.

"Because," He said, finishing my right arm and beginning to wrap my left forearm.

"Just because?" I asked him, confused.

He nodded and smiled.

"I don't know, I always seem to be able to focus more around you," He said, not looking up to meet my eyes, "You also calm me down when I get angry,"

I nodded my head at him, a small smile gracing my face.

"I know what you mean," I commented quietly.

He scoffed, and looked up at me for a moment, before his eyes returned to his work.

"Are you just saying that, or do you really know someone like that?" He asked.

I let out a small sigh.

"No, I used to know someone like that," I said, looking down at my lap and smiling ruefully.

"Who?" Nick asked, and I could hear the curiosity in his voice.

I scoffed, and shook my head.

"It doesn't matter, I'm never gonna see him again," I said, trying to hide the pain in my voice. I wasn't in pain from Nick bandaging my arm, for that was quite the contrary. It was just that he'd brought up an old wound that still hadn't healed all the way.

_I miss him so much….I wish I knew if he was alive or dead, anything to let me know abut him…_

"Emma, I've found just the thing for you!" I heard someone exclaim, and looked up to Udonna holding what looked like a gray sweatshirt in her hands.

Nick finished bandaging my arm, and I smiled at him.

"Thanks," I said, thanking him for both saving me from Udonna and for bandaging my arms.

He smirked back.

"Someone's gotta patch you up, Shorty," Nick said mischievously.

I rolled my eyes playfully at him, then turned back to Udonna.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at it cautiously. Udonna smiled widely, and unfolded the piece of clothing.

I looked at it incredulously.

"A hoodie?" I asked, looking from the grey hoodie to Udonna, then back to the hoodie, "How is that going to protect my identity?"

She smiled, and held it out to me.

"Put it on," She said, and I jumped off the table, then walked over to her. Taking the hoodie from her hands, I slipped it on, and smiled at how comfortable it was.

"So how does this protect my identity again?" I asked her, and she smiled playfully at me.

"Put the hood up," She instructed, and I did so, "Now watch. Hoodia Clo!"

In a flash of white magic, the hoodie was now instantly changed into a cloak, and as Udonna directed me to a mirror, I saw that it cast shadows on my face so you couldn't even see my eyes.

"It's a special cloak that is made to protect ones identity," Udonna explained, and I smiled devilishly, "It has magic weaved into the fabric to keep the hood up at all times unless pulled down by hand, and has a spell cast on it so that no matter what, your face will always be in shadows,"

I turned around to face her, and smiled a creepy smile at her.

"I love it," I stated in a low voice, and laughed as I put the hood down, "Thanks 'donna!"

"Hey Udonna, come look at this," Madi called over to Udonna, and we all traveled over to where the rangers stood in front of the computer like thing, "This looks like a map,"

I looked at the screen, and saw something in Necrolai's hands, and nodded my head in agreement with Madi.

"Yes, but there's more to it than that," Udonna replied, stepping closer to the screen, "It's a map written by the ancients,"

"Hmmm," Madi mumbled, then flipped out her morpher, and pointed it to the screen, "Let's take a closer look,"

Within seconds, the map that Necrolai held in her hands was printed in a replica in front of us. I picked it up, and looked at the copy in front of me curiously.

"Oh my," I heard Udonna mutter, as she looked at it, "I thought this was lost,"

"What is it?" I asked her, and she looked up at me.

"The map to the Fire Heart," She said breathlessly, and I looked at her weirdly.

"What?" Vida asked.

"No way!" chip exclaimed excitedly, and we all turned to look at him, "What's the Fire Heart?"

"The Ancients believed it to be a source of tremendous power," Udonna said, staring at the map in awe.

"Which means we have to find it before Necrolai, right?" Xander asked, and Udonna tore her gaze away from the map to look at all of us.

"It won't be easy. It says you must traverse the Cimmerian Forest," Udonna said, and I shuddered slightly at the sound of her voice.

_Holy shit, if __Udonna's__ that scared of it we're in BIG trouble….._

"That's alright," Xander spoke up, "We like forests, don't we guys?"

Udonna shook her head.

"This is unlike anything you've ever encountered," She said, looking at each of us, "Think of your worst nightmare,"

Another shudder racked my body as I remembered my nightmare from several nights ago, in all its gory wonder.

"That's easy," Chip said, "My mom puts my cellphone in the dryer, and the next time we morph…..my uniform is really tiny,"

Everyone laughed, and I stifled mine, able to hold it in.

"Enough!" Udonna said, "You are about to begin the most dangerous journey you've ever undertaken. Your path will be filled with unimaginable danger, evil creatures, and ravenous demons. Now go. Remember, returning with the Fire Heart will not be your success. Your success will be returning at all,"

I looked around at everyone and their shaken looks, and rolled my eyes.

"Come on, guys," I said, rolling up the scroll, "We better go,"

Everyone exited root core, and began walking in the direction where the map said we would find the Cimmerian Forest.


	23. Chapter 23

"This isn't so bad," Chip said, as we walked by all the 'Danger!' and 'Turn back now!' signs that scattered the path to the forest.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Madi commented, looking around at the towering trees.

We all stopped walking, and Xander looked behind him to Nick.

"I'll take the lead on this one," Xander said, a boastful smile stretched across his face, "I can read maps pretty well,"

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, looking at Xander unbelievingly.

Xander nodded, and took the map from Nick's hands.

"Like Toby said, I'm a born leader," Xander said, looking at the map, then at the surrounding forest, "Team Xander, onward,"

The rest of us looked at each other, and I rolled my eyes at Xander and his big head.

As we walked on, there turned out to be more and more signs of danger as we went. Bones scattered the ground, taking shapes of what was once an animal or maybe even human.

"Oh, this is my kind of place," Chip said, looking at another skeleton of…..something.

"It sure isn't mine," Madi commented, and I nodded my head in agreement.

Suddenly, a twig snapped in the bushes around us, and in a flash, my sword was in my hand, ready to fight.

"Okay, what was that?" Vida asked, looking around us.

"Just keep moving," Nick urged, making everyone go in front of him, and me coming in second to last directly in front of him.

We walked on, and suddenly I heard Xander say, "Whoa,"

Suddenly, Chip in front of me stopped walking, causing me to run right into his back. From my sudden stop, Nick was forced to run into my back, and everybody stumbled forward.

" 'Whoa'?" Vida asked incredulously, staring at Xander angrily, "Next time, just say 'Stop'"

"Whoa is for damn horses," I mumbled under my breath, as I tried to lean off Chip, but Nick was still leaning on me, catching himself from falling by putting his hands on my hips.

We all managed to right ourselves, we stood around and waited for directions from Xander.

Abruptly, a rush of wind swept through the trees, and we all froze.

"Guys," Chip spoke up from in front of me timidly, "I've had a feeling something's been following us,"

"Then why didn't you say anything?" I hissed to him, as I put both hands on my sword and raised it to my hip level, ready to fight.

"I don't know!" Chip whispered back, and I blocked out all the comments to focus entirely on the surrounding forest.

I heard another twig snap in the branches above us, then in the branches behind us. Quickly, I moved behind Nick so I was facing the path we were just on, and almost instantly, something fell out of the trees, and I raised my sword to it.

"Hi everyone!" It said, then turned and came face to face with my sword, "Oh, bad timing? That's ok, I understand,"

"Oh crap Phineas, it's only you," I said, relief in my voice, as my sword fizzled away in a flash of grey.

"Oh, look, it's ONLY the rangers," He said, and looked at me, "And…..uh, the other girl,"

I smiled, slightly sarcastically.

"Nice to meet you too," I said, and Phineas beamed.

"So, what are you guys doing out here?" He asked, "I can give you a guide through the forest,"

"No thanks," Xander spoke up before anyone else could, "I've got it worked out,"

Everyone began to walk away, and Phineas waved.

"Bye!" He called after us, "Even though I'll never see you again, but hey! Have a great day!"

We kept walking, and soon, I noticed a tree stump I'd seen before. I looked at it, then tapped Nick on the shoulder from where I stood behind him.

"Are we going in circles?" I asked him, pointing to the stump, and he looked at it too, and nodded.

"I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed," He said, then made his way up to Xander.

"Hey, leader," Nick called out, "Stop for a second. We're going in circles. I've seen that stump, like, a million times. We're lost,"

"We are not lost," Xander said stubbornly, and Nick growled lowly.

"We are too," Nick said, and the rest of us came to stand by them.

"Are not,"

"Are too,"

"Guys, we're sinking," Chip said, and we all looked down as our feet sunk into the mud underneath of us.

Immediately, we all began to scramble out of the mud of doom, and I searched frantically for something to grab onto.

I tried to wade in it, but found it impossible as the mud came up to my hips. In vain, I attempted to turn my body around so I could grab onto something on the shore line, but now the mud was higher than my stomach, and I was sinking still.

"Emma, grab on!" I heard Nick say, and reached his hand out to me. I quickly grabbed hold of it, and Nick, with the help of Chip, managed to pull me out of the mud.

I closed my eyes for a moment, panting from the effort of desperately trying to get myself out of the mud, and shook my head at myself.

_I'm so pitiful. I can't even get myself out of a little mud puddle….._

I rested my forehead on the ground in front of me, and a small coughed racked my shoulders.

"You okay?" The ground in front of me asked, and a confused look spread across my face as I leaned my head up. Opening my eyes, I laughed.

"Sorry Chip, I thought you were the ground," I said, and smiled, but blushed at the position I was in with the yellow ranger. My body was laying fully down on his, with my legs in between his, and the ground I had earlier set my head on happened to be Chip's chest.

"It's fine," He said, shrugging it off and helping me stand up. I managed to right myself, and grabbed hold of the other ranger's hands to help them up as well.

"Hey, where'd the map go?" Madi asked, and we all looked to Xander, who looked in the mud pond. My gaze followed his, and I saw the map slowly sinking into the mud. Lurching forward, I launched myself at the map in hopes of grabbing it before it disappeared completely, but found myself being held back.

"Emma, don't!" Nick said, one of his arms wrapped around my waist and the other on one of my shoulders, "Do you _have _a death wish?"

I growled under my breath, and watched as the map sunk fully into the mud, never to come back again.

"It's all right," Xander said, pointing to his head, "I've looked at that thing a million times. It's all up here,"

"And that's supposed to make us feel better," Vida said, and rolled her eyes.

"Come on," Xander said, and we all started off again, Xander in the front.

After a few more moments, something dropped in front of us again, and Phineas turned around.

"Are you guys sure you don't want some help?" He asked, looking around at all of us.

"Xander, I think we should," I told him, and Nick nodded in agreement.

"Guys," Xander said, "I've got it worked out. Follow me," Everyone began to walk away, and I rolled my eyes at Xander.

"I'm going with Phineas," I said, and went to stand by the troblin. Nick nodded.

"Me too," He said, and came over, soon followed by Vida.

Madi and chip looked at eachother, then walked towards us.

"Guys, come on!" Xander said, "I'll cover your shifts for two weekends at the poruim,"

Immediately, Madi and Chip returned to Xander, and after a moment, so did Vida. Nick looked at me to see what I was gonna do.

"Don't look at me," I said, "I wanna make it out of here alive,"

"Oh wait," Phineas called to Xander and his team, "I just thought I'd let you know that there's a boar beast that way,"

"I've always wanted to see a boar beast!" Chip said excitedly, and Xander scoffed.

"Come on, guys," He said, and disappeared through the trees. Before they disappeared completely though, I managed to make a small ball of grey magic, and shoot it at Xander's cloak.

We turned around to follow Phineas, and Nick looked at me curiously.

"What was that?" He asked me, as I stepped over a large tree stump.

"It's something I thought of the other day," I replied, "You make a tiny dot of magic, attach it to someone, and you can tell where they are at all times,"

Nick nodded, and impressed look on his face.

"That's smart," Phineas commented in front of Nick and I, and I smiled.

"Thanks,"

"So, Phineas," Nick started, holding a branch to the side for me, "Where ya from?"

"I don't really know," Phineas said, "I just know I had a troll father, and a goblin mother, so neither of the races really liked me,"

I frowned slightly, not imagining anybody being unable to like Phineas.

"So how'd you end up in the forest by Briarwood?" I asked, as we continued along the path Phineas led us on.

"During the Great War," He explained, and I nodded.

A moment later, Phineas, Nick, and I were standing in a bright, sunny clearing outside the woods, that led down into a valley type place.

"Here you are," Phineas said, I smiled to him, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do,"

"Thanks Phineas!" I called to him as he skipped away, singing something about 'things to do'.

"Come on, we better get the Fire Heart," Nick said, and I nodded, stepping into the clearing and out of the shadows of the forest. I squinted at the bright light, then remembered I had a hood now, and flipped it up, covering my face in shadows.

Nick and I ran to the bottom of the valley, and began to look around.

"Do you have to wear that thing?" Nick asked, and I looked over to him.

"Why?" I asked, avoiding his question.

"It freaks me out to only see half your face all the time," He said, as he looked around again.

"I hate the sun," I said plainly, "And this hood keeps it off of me, and out of my eyes. Sorry if it freaks you out, but it protects my identity,"

Nick just sighed, and I could see that his eyes had caught on something in the distance.

"There!" He said, pointing to something and running towards it. I followed after him, and saw a rock pile with a shine of light peeking through the cracks.

"I got this one," I said, throwing my hands out in front of me, and shooting magic at the rocks haphazardly. Soon, enough of the rocks were uncovered so that we could see something under them, and I put my hands on my knees, panting.

"You okay?" Nick asked, putting a hand on my back.

I nodded.

"Let's just….get …the stupid….. thing," I said between pants, and Nick nodded.

_Man, who knew magic could take that much out of you?_

Nick ran up to where a canister was embedded in rock, and used his morpher to shoot some type of fire at it to melt the rock, and pick up the canister. I stood up from my bent over position and approached him, looking at him open it cautiously.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at the rolled up piece of paper.

"I don't know," He replied, "But we can look at it once we get back to root core,"

I nodded, but suddenly, and explosion hit directly in front of Nick and I, and we were blown back.

I skidded along the ground, and looked up to see the scroll high in the air.

"The secret to the Fire Heart!" I said, and I saw that bitch Necrolai flying toward it, and quickly raised my hand to the sky.

"Sheildo!" I shouted, and Necrolai jumped as she tried to grab it, but got zapped when she tried to touch it.

I immediately jumped up as high as I could as it came back down towards me, and stretched my hand out to catch it.

"Argh!" Necrolai let out a war cry, as she flew into me from the side, and we both tumbled to the ground. Upon landing, I hit my head roughly against the rocky ground. My vision went black for a moment before returning, and I staggered to my feet.

"Take this!" Necrolai shouted, and sent purple magic my way.

"Sheilda rebuta!" I chanted, and the magic was forced back onto her, sending her skidding across the ground.

She growled at me, and stood with her hands on her hips. I smirked at her.

"You are all too familiar, sorceress," Necrolai stated, "Have we met?"

_She doesn't recognize me…._

I realized, and my smirk grew more into a devilish, sadistic one as I tried to intimidate her.

"Only in your nightmares, bitch," I stated, and my sword appeared in my hand in a fizzle of grey magic.

"We shall see who the nightmare is here," She stated, and sprinted at me. I immediately went into a defensive position, and created an 'x' with my arms as she tried to kick me in the chest, and buckled under the pressure.

"Rebuta!" I called out, and Necrolai was sent sprawling back onto the ground. I quickly scooped up the scroll, and looked over to Nick. He was fighting the taxi monster thing again, and seemed to be losing.

"Nick, freaking morph already!" I called out to him, and he nodded, then took out his morpher. In a flash of red, he was changed into the red ranger.

Suddenly, something sharp ran across my back, and I yelped in pain and stumbled to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Necrolai standing there haughtily, with her hand outstretched, like she had just slashed me across the back with something sharp. I staggered to my feet, and turned to face her. Upon taking a closer look, I realized she had hacked me across the back…. With her demon nails!

I growled at her, and raised my sword to fight her, keeping it outstretched at my chest level with both my hands.

_Bring it on, bitch…_


	24. Chapter 24

With what sounded like a cat, she let out a yowl and leapt at me. I sidestepped quickly, and hit her with my sword as she flew by, sending her even farther across the dirt.

I stretched my hand out, and soon, a globe of grey magic appeared in my hand. Inside the globe, though, the magic was spinning quickly, waiting to be released. With a growl, I ran towards her, and was pleased to see she ran towards me, also.

As we were nearing each other, I saw Nick out of the corner of my eye driving around on his red motorcycle and confusing the monster, and also saw that the other rangers had appeared too.

_Good, we need the help….._

Necrolai and I both let out war cries as we jumped at each other, and I thrust the magic forward as we were about to collide.

"Sheildo!" I called out at the same time, and as the globe of spinning magic touched Necrolai, it exploded, sending her flying back against the rocks, while my shield protected me from getting hit as well.

I landed on the ground, but didn't even have the energy left to stand. I put both hands on my knees, that were bent underneath me, and panted heavily, wishing that I hadn't used so much magic to create that bomb.

I looked up to the rangers, and saw them defeat the monster, and smiled, then hung my head again. It was too much effort to keep it up.

"Emma!" I heard Madi call out, and heard several footsteps coming towards me, "Emma, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I said, and looked up to smile at her, "Just fine,"

Suddenly, the monster that the rangers had defeated rose up from a symbol on the ground, and I recognized it to be one of Koragg's.

"They never die, do they?" Nick asked, and I shook my head.

I let out a shrill whistle, and almost immediately, Junky was at my side. With the help of my broom, I managed to haul myself up into a standing position.

"Let's take this thing down," Xander said, and I nodded, and tried to walk forward, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"Emma, let us handle this one," Nick said, moving to stand in front of me, and in between the monster and I.

"But-" I started, but the rangers rushed forward to attack the beast.

With a roar, the monster crackled with what looked like black electricity, and grew until it was a hundred feet high.

"Mystic force, Titan mode!" The rangers yelled, and in an instant, they were all in their Titan mode.

I looked at Junky, and climbed onto him, expecting him to move forward, but he stayed where he was.

"Junky, come on!" I said to him, trying to fly him forward. He seemed to shake his head.

"We're not going to be able to do anything if we sit here, now come on!" I said, and Junky hesitantly flied upwards until we were eye-level with the rangers, but hovering next to them.

They didn't notice me as the monster turned into a giant taxi, and ran straight for them. Nick was the first to act, and jumped onto the roof of the car, holding on tightly as it tried to throw him off.

Vida quickly changed into a soccer ball, and Nick flew off the roof of the 'taxi', pushed himself off the wall, flip-kicked the ball, and managed to land on his feet as Vida hit the taxi head on.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, the rangers were combined, and began the mystic spell seal to take the monster out.

I looked away from the fight for a moment, feeling like I forgot something, and glanced at the ground where I saw Necrolai making a mad dash to something directly underneath me. Looking closer, I realized what it was.

"Junky, you know what to do, go!" I said to him, and he immediately went into a dive. I began to count down mentally.

_3….2… now!_

I immediately swung my body so I was now directly underneath Junky and holding on, just as he reached the ground, and pulled up. I swiped my hand out, and snatched up the scroll, just as Necrolai was about to reach it, and Junky took off as I struggled to right myself on him.

I heard Necrolai growl in frustration, and saw a flash of purple as my broom rocked dangerously from side to side. I immediately grabbed onto Junky tighter, but in the hasty process of it, accidentally dropped the scroll.

"Shit!" I cursed, and whipped Junky around to grab the scroll, but saw that Necrolai had gotten to it first.

"Give me that!" I yelled, as I launched myself off the broom and towards her, grabbing the scroll in the process of tackling her. We tumbled around on the ground, fighting for the scroll, when a loud sound was heard through the entire area. The sound…. Of ripping paper.

I immediately staggered to my feet, tired from wrestling and from the pain in my back, and stared in disbelief at the torn half of scroll in my hands.

Necrolai looked at the scroll in her hands too, and growled.

"You will pay for this!" She shouted to me, and I glared at her, but realized that with my special cloak on, she couldn't see my eyes.

"We will meet again, Dark One," She snapped hastily, and jumped or flew away, I couldn't really tell which one it was.

I stumbled over to the rangers, as they stood in their normal size now, but still in their ranger forms. My sword disappeared from the ground it had been laying on since I dropped it trying to make Necrolai blow up, and the rangers walked towards me to meet me half way.

"Did you get it?" Chip asked excitedly, and I directed my gaze downwards.

"Well….." I started, then held up the half of scroll I had left. Everything was quiet for a moment, before everyone but myself broke into laughter.

"At least we got half of it!" Madi exclaimed in a positive attitude, and I smiled.

_Man, she always knows how to make me feel better….._

"I guess," I said, looking at the pitiful piece of paper in my hand, then opening it.

"A map?" Xander guessed, and I shrugged.

"It's not like we have all of it," I said, and rolled it back up, putting it in a secret pocket in my cloak, then pulling the hood down when I noticed the sky becoming dark.

"Let's get back to root core," Nick said, and we all nodded, setting off through the woods again.

It was easier to find our way through the woods this time, and as we walked, I thought of something.

"Guys, why are we walking?" I asked to no one in particular, "Can't we just use the trees?"

Everyone stopped walking, and looked around at each other, suddenly breaking into laughter, myself included.

"Should've thought of that earlier," Vida laughed out, and we all teleported through the trees to root core.

"Udonna!" Nick called, and looked around, "Udonna, we have the secret to the Fire Heart! Well, sort of…"

Immediately, Udonna dashed into the room, an excited smile on her face, that made me falter on the act of giving her the half of scroll.

_She thinks we found the entire thing, but she doesn't realize it's only half…_

"Well, where is it?" She asked, as after a moment I hesitated. I sighed and pulled it out of my cloak, and put it in her outstretched hand.

"I screwed up and dropped it," I began to explain, dejectedly, "So I had to fight Necrolai for it, and, well…"

"She got the other half," Madi said, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.

To my surprise, Udonna smiled.

"I'm so proud of you all!" She exclaimed, and opened the scroll, and looking at it quizzically, "I'm not quite sure what this is, but I'll examine it further,"

We all nodded, and turned to leave, but Udonna closed the door to root core, and I turned around to look at her.

"What?" I asked, and she pointed to the table. I sighed, and rolled my eyes, but walked over to the table none the less.

"Everyone should stay here tonight," Udonna explained, "It's already dark outside and I don't want any of you taking chances,"

Everyone agreed, and dispersed around root core, since it was only about 8:00, and I got to play ragdoll again. I immediately shed my cloak, and saw that even though there were bloodstains on the back, any slash marks didn't seem to be there.

_I think it's the magic in the material. It must sew itself back together…._

"Emma, why didn't you say anything?" She asked, scolding me, as she made me lift my shirt off of my lower back, and proceeded to bandage and clean it.

I sighed, and rolled my eyes.

"I don't expect you to believe me, but the pain stopped after a little bit," I said, and heard Udonna scoff.

"You're right, I don't believe you," She said, and continued to bandage my wounds tightly.

"Why would you ask if you weren't going to believe me?" I retorted, and she finished bandaging my wounds, and I let my shirt drop.

"Because I expect the truth," She said, and I shook my head at her as I hopped off the table and faced her as I walked backwards.

"I don't have any reason to lie to you Udonna," I called, not using my usual nickname for her, and turned around and continued to walk through root core. I skipped the balcony this time, because frankly I was too freaked out from my dream to go back there just yet, and so continued on.

After a moment or two, I came across a flight of spiral steps that seemed to go on forever upwards, and grinned.

"Let's see if I can do this," I mumbled to myself, and began sprinting up the steps. After about 50 steps, I began to get tired, and slowed down to a slow jog. After about another 45 steps, I was ready to die.

Letting out a shrill whistle, I called Junky, but was surprised to see that he didn't come. I let out another whistle, this time louder, and he still didn't come. Beginning to panic, I ran back down the steps, which was a lot easier than going up, and into the main room of root core.

"Guys, have you seen J-" I started, then looked at the scene in front of me, and my mouth hung open in shock.

Right in front of me now, Chip and Xander had Junky held down, and were tying pink and purple bows onto him and snickering.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY BROOM?" I shouted, and they looked up, completely shocked to see me, "YOU ARE _SO _DEAD!"


	25. Chapter 25

I immediately launched myself at them, and in panic, they let go of Junky and went separate ways.

"Studa ferga rah!" I shouted, and stretched my arms out to the directions that they went, and grey magic shot out and hit both of them, turning whatever the magic hit pink. In Chip's case, it was his cape, and in Xander's case…. I hit him straight in the eyes.

I didn't stop there, and pretty soon, it became an Emma vs. Xander and Chip war. I continued to chase them around, and Junky decided to help me corner them, too.

"What are you gonna do now?" I said tauntingly, but teasingly, and looked at both of them. They were pink and purple all over, and I couldn't help but laugh at their appearance.

Xander and Chip looked at each other, and nodded.

"Magical source, Mystic force!" They shouted, and whipped out their morphers. In a moment, it was no longer Emma vs. Xander and Chip. Now, it was Emma vs. the yellow and green rangers.

I smiled.

"Bring it on!" I shouted, and Junky flew to my side, almost as if saying that he was on my side.

The rangers jumped at me, and I threw my arms up.

"Sheildo!" I chanted, and the rangers just fell into my shield.

"Ow!" Chip exclaimed, as he fell on his butt.

I let the shield down and towered over them.

I let out a fake evil laugh, and smiled.

"Looks like I win this war, huh?" I asked them, and the boys looked at each other shiftily.

"Not if I can help it!" Xander exclaimed, and jumped up and tackled me.

I let out a small 'eep!' as I was tackled to the ground, and Xander pinned my arms behind my back. I saw Chip approaching me, and knew exactly what they were about to do.

"No! Don't!" I said, and pushed myself as far into Xander as I could to get away from Chip, but it was no use.

I let out a large laugh as Chip began to tickle me on the sides of my stomach, and squirmed all around.

"Stop!" I managed to get out between laughs, as I wriggled and squirmed.

"Give up?" Xander asked, and I nodded, seeing as I couldn't say yes from my laughing so hard.

"What?" Chip asked, as he continued to tickle me, "I couldn't hear you,"

"Yes!" I got out, and Chip immediately stopped tickling me, and Xander let go of my arms.

I clutched my stomach, and turned around to face them both, a smile on my face.

"You guys suck," I said playfully, and they seemed to smile from behind their ranger uniforms.

"We know," Xander said, as they powered down, and I was thrown into another fit of laughter at their appearance.

Chip looked his pink cape, and gasped, then looked at me.

"Why?" He asked, holding his cape up to look at it, "WHY?"

This only made me laugh harder, and soon, I heard footsteps coming to the main room.

"What happen-" Nick began to ask, and as soon as he saw the other rangers, tried in vain to suppress his laughter.

"What…..What happened here?" He asked, attempting to use his best authority voice, but failing miserably.

"Emma just came in and started to throw magic at us!" Xander exclaimed, and I looked at him open mouthed.

"Uh….Yeah!" Agreed Chip after a moment, and he nodded.

"Oh, really?" I asked, and glared at the two rangers again, "I'll do it again!"

I immediately launched myself at them again, but didn't get the chance to try a spell to put them in little pink tutus. Nick immediately bent down, and threw me over his shoulder, and began walking away.

"What the hell?" I asked, and leaned up to look at Nick as best I could, "Put me down!"

Nick smiled deviously, and shook his head.

"Nope," He said, and continued walking, "You've ruined root core enough as it is,"

I grumbled to myself, and leaned back down to rest a bent elbow on his back and my chin on my hand.

"They started it," I mumbled to myself, and glared back at the disappearing rangers.

Chip and Xander were snickering at me and pointing, so I lifted my hand slowly.

"Studa ferga rah," I chanted quietly, and magic whizzed out at them, hitting them both square between the eyes.

They both went down with a groan, and I smiled to myself and snickered slightly.

_I have some kick ass aim…_

Nick suddenly stopped walking, and set me down.

"Come on," I whined to him, and followed him over to the railing, "They started it. Why didn't you carry THEM away?"

Nick laughed, and looked over at me.

"What happened anyways?" he asked, and I was about to respond, when a sudden flash of movement caught my eye in the doorway, and I sighed.

"Junky, come on," I called out, and he meekly came out from the doorway and flew his way over to me.

"_That's_ how it started," I said, pointing to the bows and ribbons still attached to my broom, and began to pull them off of him.

Nick let out a small laugh, but joined me in taking the bows off of Junky. As soon as Nick even so much as reached for them, though, Junky moved and slapped Nick's hand away with hid handle.

"Ow!" Nick exclaimed, jerking his hand back. I chuckled nervously, as I finished taking the bows off of him.

"I don't think he likes you very much," I said, as I finished taking off the last bow from Junky's handle.

"No kidding," Nick said, rubbing his hand.

I laughed and looked around, only to realize I was on the balcony. My heart beat picked up, and my eyes widened slightly, as I remembered the nightmare I had from the other night.

"You okay?" Nick asked, and I snapped out of my trance to look at him. Almost immediately upon seeing his concerned face, I calmed down.

"Yeah," I replied, smiling, but soon my eyes snapped up to the lights emanating from root core, as they were turned out.

"Looks like Udonna wants everyone to go to sleep," Nick commented, following my gaze. I nodded, and we began to walk inside.

As we entered the main room of root core, I noticed the sleeping bags scattered across the floor, and how everyone had crawled into their respective ones.

Stepping away from Nick, I was pleased to see that Chip and Xander were still purple and pink, and let out a snicker as I walked by them and to my sleeping bag.

"Emma, would you mind?" Xander asked, pointing to himself and Chip, and I smirked.

"Har agref aduts," I chanted, and grey magic shot out at them, making them flinch upon instinct, but nonetheless turning everything back into its original color.

"Finally!" Chip exclaimed, "Thanks,"

I smiled, and let out a yawn.

"No problem," I said, and snuggled down into my sleeping bag, lying on my shoulder.

"Goodnight," I heard Madi say, and responses were heard all around the room.

"Night," I mumbled, and soon drifted into sleep…..

I sat up jerkily, and sat there for a moment, trying to remember what just happened.

_Nightmare….. _

I concluded mentally, and sighed in frustration, putting my face in my hands.

_And I can't even remember what happened…_

With a small grumble, I got up out of my sleeping bag, and exited the main room, searching the hallways.

"Where's the bathroom in this place?" I mumbled to myself, and opened yet another door, only to find it bare.

I sighed in frustration and continued onto the next one, opening the door slightly just in case it was someone's room, but flung the door open with a smile when I saw it was the bathroom.

"Yes!" I said excitedly to myself, and entered, locking the door. I exited the bathroom 15 minutes later, fully clothed (thanks to magic) and reached into my pocket for my iPod to see what time it was.

I growled lowly when I found my pocket empty of my iPod, and made a mental note to murder Necrolai.

Standing for another moment, I decided to just go back to the main room of root core and make coffee for everyone and made my way towards there.

Three grumpy rangers (Vida, Xander, and Nick), two morning rangers (Madi and Chip), a very much awake sorceress, a sleepy sorceress-in-training, and a non-magical girl later, we were off to work.

"Good morning Toby!" Madi called to our boss as we entered the 'Rock Porium', and he just waved his hand out his office window, not even bothering to come out.

"Hey, guys?" Xander said, before we could disperse to our stations, and we all turned out attention to him, "I'm sorry for being a bad leader. I guess that part of being a good leader is knowing when to follow,"

I nodded and smiled at him, and everyone else accepted his apology too. Soon enough, we dispersed to our regular spots to enjoy the splendor of a slow day.

My eyes snapped up to the doorway, though, when I noticed someone walk in, and my eyes went wide.

"Umm, Hi. Can I help you?" I asked him, and he directed his attention to me.

"Nah, me tour bus broke down so I thought I'd kill some time in here while it's getting' fixed," He replied, and Nick, who was across the counter from me, jumped up.

"You're….John BackBreaker, right?" Nick asked, and I slapped my forehead.

"Jake Bonebreaker," Jake and I said at the same time, and he laughed and high fived me.

"Nice to see someone knows my name!" He said excitedly, and soon all the other rangers had joined us too.

"Jake, you've got to meet out boss, he's a big fan of yours!" Vida exclaimed, "Toby!"

Toby came out of his office, took one look at Jake, then waved his hand in a motion that brushed him off.

"I'm not falling for that again." Toby declared, and held up the papers in his hands, "I've got work to do!"

And with that said, he closed the door to his office, and we all looked at each other confusedly, and I shrugged.

"Toby's like that sometimes," I explained, and Jake just nodded.

We hung out with him for the next half hour, until his bus was fixed.

"Nice meeting you!" Madi called, and Jake waved back and smiled.

"Bye!" Xander called as the bus pulled away and down the road, so we all went back into the store to assume our posts.

"What do think Toby meant by 'Not falling for that again'?" Nick asked me, and I shrugged, getting out my drawing pad and a black pen.

"I don't know," I said, and sighed, "I worry about him sometimes…."

Nick nodded.

"Yeah, me too….."


	26. Chapter 26

The day progressed quickly, and soon enough, it was time to close.

I began to lock the register, and Nick got up from his stool to put up the 'CLOSED' sign, when I heard the most obnoxious voice ever.

"Hi!"

"Sorry, Leelee, we're closing," Nick said, but the click of heels alerted me of Leelee's entrance to the store, and I looked up, annoyance clear on my face.

"Good!" She said, and held up a poster, "Then you have no excuse not to take me to see this new DJ tonight,"

Nick sighed, and started to walk past her.

"No can do," He explained, "I already have plans,"

With how dejected Leelee looked, it almost made me feel sorry for her… then I thought about what she said to Madi, and I grinned at her rejection.

"Don't waste your time throwing yourself at him, Leelee," Xander said, coming up and putting boxes on the counter, and giving her his best sexy look, "Throw yourself at me,"

Leelee seemed to think for a moment, and then nodded.

"Okay, you can come with me," She said, even though I knew she was settling.

"Cool," Xander said, but Nick's voice rang out through the store.

"He can't go either," Nick said, "He's the one I have plans with,"

Xander growled and walked towards Nick.

I rolled my eyes at him.

_Hmmm. Boys….._

"DJ Fly," Vida read off the poster that Leelee held, "Any good?"

Leelee scoffed.

"He's just, like, the hottest new DJ around," She said, "I'm surprised you haven't heard of him,"

"I better check this guy out," Vida said, looking at the poster in her hands.

"Great!" Leelee said with a smile, "You can go with me!"

"Vida has plans too," Nick said, appearing next to Lee.

"B-but…there's new talent in town!" Vida exclaimed, and Nick shook his head, steering Leelee towards the exit, "Our plans can wait until tomorrow!"

"No they can't," Nick replied, his voice so steel it made me cringe, "You gave your word that you'd help, V. Thanks for the invite, Lee,"

Nick directed Leelee out of the store, closed the door, and turned around to us.

"We have half the Fire Heart scroll to figure out," Nick started, looking around at us, "Chip and Madison are waiting at root core, remember?"

Vida stood there, looking dejected, and finally I took pity on her and walked over to her.

"Hey, V," I said, my voice bright, "Look, he's gonna be here tomorrow, too. I'll go with you if you want,"

Vida looked up at me, her eyes hopeful.

"Really?" She asked, and I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, really," I replied, and put on my hoodie, "C'mon, let's get to root core,"

Through the night, even though we worked diligently, the secret to the Fire Heart still didn't make sense, and we all ended up giving up on it for the moment or until we could work on it further.

"I'm so excited!" Vida exclaimed, the next day at work, and I laughed at her giddy attitude.

"Yeah, me too," I said, and returned to my drawing as Vida practically skipped by.

"What's she so happy about?" Nick asked, and I sighed, putting my chin on my hand.

"We're going to see that new DJ tonight," I responded, and he nodded.

"You'll be able to help with the scroll though, right?" He asked, and I nodded my head.

"We'll be there," I said, and went back to drawing.

Later on that evening, it was time to close, and Vida practically dragged me out of the store and down the street.

"Whoa, V, slow down!" I said, as I came up to a jog beside her.

"I know, but I'm just so excited!" She exclaimed, and I laughed at her. Soon enough, we were in front of the club that was hosting the DJ, and we were now standing in a crowd with about 25 other teenagers that were dancing to the music.

"It's almost hypnotizing, don't you think?" Vida called over the music, and I nodded, not taking my eyes away from the DJ.

Bright lights roamed all over the room, casting weird shadows and throwing color everywhere, but something wasn't right.

I looked at the DJ again, and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, like something was….off.

Suddenly, the beep of Vida's morpher alerted her of a call and snapped me out of my trance.

"But mom-…. Come on! Make dad do it… fine, whatever. I'll be right there," Vida flipped her phone closed and looked about ready to chuck it across the room, "I gotta go Emma. Mom's being a pain in the butt and needs me home NOW,"

I gave her a look of sympathy.

"That sucks," I consoled her, "I'll see you at root core then?"

Vida nodded, and waved as she exited the club.

_I'll stay for one more song…_

I kept swaying to the music, and soon I began to feel tired, but kept swaying anyways. The lights in the room began to spin, and the DJ was the only thing I could see clearly.

Abruptly, the music seemed to stop, and everything faded into black…..

Just as suddenly, everything seemed to come back into color again, and I shook my head.

_Holy shit, I gotta get to root core to help with the Fire Heart…._

Immediately, I exited the club, and started towards root core right away.

_Ah man, I hope I'm not that late….._

I teleported through the trees, and felt surprisingly comfortable with going through the forest alone and at night, which contrasted my earlier feelings about it.

"Sorry I'm late," I said immediately, as I entered root core, and was immediately tackled with hugs from both sides.

I let out a squeak of surprise, and hugged back.

"Umm, nice to see you too?" I said, and Madi and Vida pulled back.

"Nice to see you?" Vida asked incredulously, "We haven't seen you since yesterday!"

I looked at them confusedly.

"Oh…." I said, and looked at everyone, "Sorry, I really didn't know,"

"You didn't know?" Nick asked disbelievingly, "How can you 'not know'? You didn't even show yesterday!"

I flinched at the sound of his voice, and immediately felt defensive.

"It's just…" Is started, but wasn't given the chance to finish.

"Just forget it," Nick said angrily, "Just don't….. don't do that again,"

I cut my eyes at him slightly, but nodded nonetheless.

_Who the hell does he think he is? I didn't even know I was gone for a whole day! One minute, I was with the DJ, the next, everyone tells me I was in that club for an entire DAY? What the hell is this?_

Suddenly, Nick grabbed his head in one hand, and leant on the table with the other, face clearly showing pain.

I reached forward to ask him if he was ok, but the familiar feeling of Koragg in my head, and a massive headache stopped me, and brought my hand to my head also.

Soon, the pain went away, and I lifted my eyes to Nick.

"What he say?" I asked, and Nick immediately gave me a cold look.

_What the hell did I do?_

"He said to meet him in the clearing North of here," Nick said, and I nodded, looking around at the rangers.

"Let's go," Xander said, and we all started out of root core and to the clearing. Rainclouds had gathered in the sky, and as soon as I noticed them, I saw Nick lift his gaze to the sky, then me.

Growling obscenities under my breath at him, I ignored him.

Soon, we entered the clearing, and I looked around cautiously. Someone else was here, I knew it. I just needed to find out where.

_Frick, it's a good thing I've been studying from that spell book….._

With a growl, Hideaks leapt up from the bushes, and immediately my sword was in my hand, raised and ready to attack.

"Let's ranger up," I heard Nick say, but suddenly, I found myself charging at the monsters by myself. I leapt and kicked one in the chest, sending it flying back against another of its comrades, then spun around just in time to slash another one charging at me with my sword.

Growling, the remaining monsters all charged at me, and I ran to meet them halfway, charging an extremely large globe of spinning magic in my hand.

Extremely large, as in…. the size of a volley ball.

Growling lowly, I thrust the magic forward right as I began to collide with the monsters, but didn't dare use a shield to block myself this time, for fear it would use too much magic. Instead, I settled on flipping over top of them to stand across the clearing from the other rangers, and glaring at the motionless bodies of the Hideaks.

"Very impressive," I heard Koragg's voice, and immediately my shoulder began to throb. Upon instinct, I clutched it, but not without Koragg's notice.

"Not many people can get away from the Knight Wolf alive," Koragg started, looking at me, and chuckled, "But those who do…. Don't get away without a price,"

I just growled at him lowly, too angry to retort.

"Now how about a real challenge?" He asked, and in a flash of light, was in his zord mode.

As the rangers morphed, I let out a shrill whistle, and within seconds, Junky was at my side. Immediately, I climbed on him and flew up next to the rangers.

"Welcome to your last fight," Koragg taunted, and I found my shoulder throbbing even more terribly now.

"Bring it on, bitch," I mumbled to myself, and Koragg's shield lifted up to reveal that damn eye again.

"Wolf attack!" Koragg chanted, and dark magic shot out at us.

Flying in front of the rangers, I lifted my hand off of Junky.

"Sheildo!" I called out, and a grey magic shield surrounded the rangers and I. As soon as the shield was let down, Chip and Nick jumped forward and began to sword fight against Koragg.

At first, it seemed that Nick and Chip were winning, but after the first few seconds, Koragg had managed to land a hit on Chip and two on Nick. As they fell to the ground, Madi jumped in, but Koragg saw her coming, and managed to hit her before she even got close to him.

"You want some of this?" Xander shouted, as he brought his battle axe down towards Koragg, who –unsurprisingly enough- blocked the blow, and pushed Xander back, then proceeded to attack him.

Nick got up from the ground, and tried to attack Koragg, but was soon sent back to the ground.

Anxiously, I looked around for Vida, and saw that she was nowhere in sight.

"Little help V?" Madi called out to her sister desperately, and Vida appeared out of seemingly nowhere in her soccer ball form.

"Incoming!" Vida called out, and Chip caught her, then proceeded to chuck her at Koragg.

Vida hit Koragg's shield with amazing force, and sent him flying back, but didn't send him down.

Growling, I approached him.

_It's time to finish this…_

"I'm not done yet," Koragg stated, and suddenly, he was in a megazord form , and combined with Catasrtos.

"Holy shit…." I mumbled to myself, and tightened my grip on Junky.

_Alright, now or never….._

I set my jaw in determination, and flew forwards, reciting the incantation I was about to use in my head.

_Okay, I can do this…_

I opened my mouth to begin the spell, but suddenly, the clouds opened up, and sunlight streamed through…. Directly onto me.

I choked back a scream of agony, as I felt like my skin was burning. I lost track of where Junky was going, and was swatted back by Koragg into the rangers.

"Emma, what's wrong?" I heard chip ask, seeing as he was the one I was thrown back into.

"The sun…." I choked out, cowering closer to Chip's megazord chest, hoping for any type of protection from the sun, "It….."

My body began to go numb from the burning on my skin, and my grip went loose on Junky, as I slid off and hit the ground roughly.

I didn't even have the energy to stand, and soon heard choruses of concern from the rangers.

"You lose one and you all quit?" I heard Koragg say incredulously, and then heard the familiar clash of sword on megazord.

"You are pathetic," Koragg continued, "I waste my time,"

Soon, I heard the familiar sound of Koragg disappearing through one of his symbols and knew he had left.

"Guys, we gotta help her," Xander said, and my eyes began to close further, my body growing completely limp.

I was vaguely aware of footsteps coming closer as my eyes closed completely.

"Em!" I heard the concerned voice of Madi call, and felt someone's hand on my shoulder, flipping me onto my back and propping my head up on their lap.

"We gotta get her to root core," I heard Vida say, sounding more desperate then I had ever heard her.

I was aware of being picked up bridal style, and the familiar warmth of someone's body against mine as I fought for consciousness.

"Why is it always you?" I heard my carrier ask, his voice defeated. I would've rolled my eyes if I had energy left to do so.

_It's not like I enjoy it….._

After a few more moments of fighting for consciousness, the depths of an endless black abyss won over, and I lost consciousness for what felt like the millionth time that month….


	27. Chapter 27

I shot up out of bed, my eyes wide.

"Holy shit….." I mumbled to myself as I rubbed my eyes, and finally found it in myself to roll out of bed.

_That was the strangest dream I've ever had…._

I thought to myself, as I looked around the room I was in, realizing I was in root core.

I stumbled out into the hallway, all too familiar with that room. Yeah, the one Udonna always put me in whenever I was in a near death situation or passed out… neither of which I'd like to remember.

I yawned and stretched as I came into the main room, and saw the rangers working diligently over our half of the Fire Heart scroll.

Without making a lot of noise, I crept up behind them, looking at it over their shoulder.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Chip sprang at me, tackling me to the ground and whipped out….. a giant stick?

"Fear me now, creature of the night, for I will be the end of you eternal life!" Chip exclaimed, brandishing the stick and pointing it directly towards my heart.

My eyes widened, and I cocked my head to the side.

_What the hell is he talking about?_

"Umm, okay Chip," I started, putting my hands up in mock surrender, "Uh, you're feared, but your also really heavy. Mind getting off of me?"

Chip shook his head 'no' and said nothing more, but still sat on me, like he was a child.

_This is really making me uncomfortable….._

"C'mon, Chip, let her up, she surrendered," Xander pointed out, as he and Nick dragged chip off of me.

"Don't let her up!" Chip exclaimed, "She's a vampire!"

I looked at Chip disbelievingly.

"What?" I asked after a moment, looking at him confusedly.

Chip scavenged his pockets for something before taking out a small card.

"I am a card carrier member of C.O.U.N.T.V.," Chip exclaimed, waving the small card around.

"What?" Nick asked incredulously, obviously as confused as I was.

"Containment of Underworld Nocturnal Transylvanian Vampires Club," Chip said, like we should've known exactly what he was talking about, "And I, my friends, have found myself a vampire,"

Everything was quiet for a moment before Chip continued.

"Pale complexion, sensitivity to light, sleeping all day, they're all textbook signs of a vampire," Chip exclaimed excitedly, and looked around at everyone.

_Wait, what if I really AM a vampire?_ I thought, panicking, _That would help explain why I was more comfortable than usual walking alone at night, and why I slept all day, AND why the sun-_

The room suddenly burst into laughter, ripping me from my thoughts.

"C'mon, we better get to work," Madi said, as she, Nick, Vida, and Xander went out the door.

"Well, maybe I was wrong," Chip called out after them, "I'll come in with Emma,"

Chip sighed, and put his vampire book and card member thingy away, and looked up at me.

"Let's get to work," Chip said dejectedly, and I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Wait…" I started, once I had his attention, "What if…you're right?"

"I knew it!" Chip exclaimed, "You ARE a vampire!"

I held my hands out in front of me.

"No, no, no, no, that's not what I meant," I said, as Chip danced around the room, but stopped as he heard me speak, "I don't know if I am or not, but… would you, like, help me figure out?"

A wide smile spread across Chip's face, and he nodded vigorously.

"Of course!" He exclaimed, and pulled out a large, black bag labeled 'C.O.U.N.T.V.', "Let's get started,"

Over the next few minutes, Chip proceeded to put me through different tests to see if I really was a vampire.

"Well?" I asked, as soon as we were done and Chip had looked over what he'd dubbed important and written down.

"Let's see," He mumbled to himself, "Thirst for blood, check, sensitive to light, check, pale complexion, check, awesome strength," At this point in his mumbling, Chip reached a hand over to his right arm to rub it, most likely remembering the arm wrestle we had….that I had won, "Definitely check, Dislike to garlic, check…."

I looked at him pleadingly.

_Please don't tell me I'm a vampire…._

"Great news!" Chip exclaimed, and I smiled.

_YES! I'm not a vampire!_

"You're a vampire!" Chip exclaimed, and my heart sunk, "Well, it's good for me since it's my first real vampire sighting, but it kind of sucks for you. I mean, being a soulless demon and all,"

I looked up at him and nodded sullenly, then moved to sit on the giant oak table, putting my head in my hands.

_Holy shit, what am I gonna do? I'm a VAMPIRE? Ugh, I am so screwed for life! I even wanted to be an artist and move to England! But NO! I'm stuck as a vampire! Maybe I'll just give Stephanie Myers a call and she can write about me in her next book! Freaking GREAT!_

"Emma, do you know what might've caused this?" Chip asked softly, sitting next to me on the table.

I thought for a moment, and nodded.

"I started feeling a little weird from listening to the DJ the other night," I said earnestly, and Chip nodded.

"Let's go check him out," Chip said, but took out his morpher first, "I better call everyone and let them know what's going on,"

"You probably shouldn't just yet," I said, looking Chip in the eye, "They already think you're crazy. Let's wait until we find out more, then tell them,"

Chip nodded, and we hopped off the table, but Chip stopped short of the exit of root core, and turned around to me.

"You… haven't tried to bite me yet," Chip pointed out, and I rolled my eyes.

"Chip, I don't want to hurt anybody," I said, but he still didn't move from his position of blocking the exit.

"And that's enough to motivate you not to bite me?" Chip asked incredulously, and I sighed, crossing my arms.

"Fine," I said, "I was a vegetarian as a human, so I guess that blood just doesn't appeal to me that much,"

Chip nodded, ad stepped aside for me to go first.

We walked down the street, and luckily for me it was dark, but my skin seemed to glow a ghostly white in the night.

"You're a vegetarian?" Chip asked suddenly, and I sighed.

"Yes, now come on," I said, leading him through to the club.

Familiar bright lights shone all around the room, and I could've sworn that I saw some of the kids that had been there when I was.

I looked up at the DJ, ready to fight any type of hypnosis he would throw at me, but almost instantly, my mind went blank like it had the night before last.

I had only stood there for what felt like seconds, when someone pushing me snapped me out of it. I blinked, and looked around for a moment, before finally seeing what was going on.

"Your little vampire tricks won't work on me," Necrolai sneered haughtily at Chip, ready to strike, "Now I can finish you!"

Chip quickly tried to dash away, but Necrolai grabbed him by his hood and yanked him back, sending flying onto the floor.

Chip got up with a groan, and faced the stupid bat bitch thing again.

"All right," I heard him mumble, and it occurred to me just what was happening.

_Holy crap, if anybody so much as lays a fang on Chip and it breaks the skin, Chip will be turned too!_

With this thought, I hid myself behind the teens standing closest to my friend, ready to jump in and help if need be.

Chip quickly morphed, and jumped at Necrolai. I mentally cheered for Chip to kick Necrolai's stupid little ass, but didn't want to say it out loud.

Before Chip could get anywhere near her, though, slimy vine-like things wrapped around Chip, pinning his arms at his sides.

Immediately, my sword was in my hands, but the motion had attracted Necrolai's attention and she spotted me.

"Flytrap!" She barked at the DJ…well, what _used _to be the DJ, but was now an ugly monster with too many hands, "Destroy the girl!"

Flytrap lifted his arm up, and shot some type of magic at me, and I immediately held my hands up to create a shield, but didn't get the chance to.

"No!" Chip yelled, as he broke out of the monsters grip, and jumped in front of the burning ball of magic, taking the hit.

I watched him wide eyed, not believing what he just did.

"Go, my servants!" Necrolai barked to the other teens, and they filed out the door obediently, "Do my bidding, and in the morning, you shall all turn to dust,"

And with that, Necrolai and her creepy flytrap friend were sucked into symbols on the ground, stopping the music. Immediately, I ran over to Chip, who lay on the ground, knocked completely out of his ranger mode.

"Chip, what the hell were you thinking!" I exclaimed in a soft voice, as I knelt down next to him, and placed his head on my lap, "You know well enough that I can take care of myself!"

Chip didn't seem to be able to move, but managed to look up at me.

"Sorry," He groaned out, "It was instinct I guess. I still thought you were hypnotized. I didn't want you to get hurt,"

I sighed, and closed my eyes, trying to calm down.

"Chip, don't do that next time," I managed to get out, "Sometimes, you just gotta let one person fall to save everyone else. You coulda just killed the bitch," I mumbled, and moved to begin helping my friend up, "Chip…always the hero,"

Chip scoffed at me, and I stopped my fail of an endeavor to look at him curiously….my endeavor being the action of getting Chip off the ground.

"Not a hero," He said, and looked at me with an innocent smile, "Just a friend,"

He paused before beginning again.

"Remember the other day when I challenged you to a sword fight because you said I slept with a teddy bear?"

I laughed at him.

"You do," I said pointedly, and he nodded, still smiling.

"Yeah, I do. Well, no one else will ever accept my challenge because they're either too busy, or don't feel like putting up with me. You accepted, and kicked my butt too. Both of which no one ever takes time to do," He said, and I nodded in sympathy. I knew the feeling where nobody had time for you.

"I know this is gonna sound really cheesy," He continued, "But like it or not, I'm your friend for life, even if you are a blood sucking vampire. And I'll try to protect you, 'cuz that's what friends do, undead or not,"

I laughed at him, and smiled the truest smile I had since I came to Briarwood.

"Will you fight with me?" Chip asked, and I looked at him disbelievingly, but amused as my smile stayed on my face.

"We don't stand a chance, Chip," I said, and he nodded, obviously still understanding that.

"Yeah, I know," He said, "But just like you said when we thought we couldn't get Nick back, we can't do anything by doing nothing. We gotta give it a shot,"

I smirked playfully at him, and poked hi on the nose.

"Hell yeah, we are," I exclaimed, and attempted to help him up. Chip barely had enough energy to lift his hand p to meet mine, even for a moment, before it fell back down.

"That didn't go too well," Chip gasped out, and clutched his stomach. Immediately, I knwlt down beside him, and placed my hand on his stomach.

"Cura," I whispered, and grey magic surrounded him for a moment, before fading away, "Better?"

Chip jumped up, and grinned.

"Oh yeah," He said, and I stood up next to him, summoning my sword into my hand, then making it disappear.

"Let's go kick some vampire butt," Chip exclaimed, and I nodded, following him out into the night where we would find Necrolai and her servants…..


	28. Chapter 28

"Hold it right there, Flytrap!" Chip called to the monster as we came to a halt in front of him. I had changed my hoodie back into its original cloak form, and put the hood up, as well as summoned my sword.

"Em!"

I turned to see Xander, Vida, Madi, and Nick all running towards us.

"Ems, you ok?" Xander asked good naturedly, and I smiled.

"Yeah," I replied, and turned back to the monster in front of us.

"Let's swat this fly!" Vida exclaimed, and we all nodded.

All at once, the rangers rushed forward, but I hesitated.

_What if I just get in the way again?_

I didn't get to dwell on the thought though, because suddenly Flytrap shot out his long vine like arms, and wrapped them around every ranger, pinning their arms at their sides.

Growling under my breath, I ran forwards and cut the first vine with my sword.

Flytrap let out a howl of pain, and the rest of his arms retreated.

"Magi staff, cross bow mode!" Chip called, and shot his lightning arrow at the monster.

Quickly, everyone but myself fell back into their formation and rushed at the monster.

"Tornado time!" I heard Vida call out, and as she spun around and around, so did the other rangers. As they gained speed, the monster slowly began to lift into the sky and soon was flying through the air.

Before the monster crashed into the ground, it abruptly went into zord mode, and seeing it coming, I let out a shrill whistle to call Junky. At an instant, he was at my side, and I climbed on and flew up next to the rangers.

The rangers quickly morphed into their combined Titan mode, and faced the monster.

"Try and stop these!" The monster called, sending out giant vine like tentacles at the rangers. The rangers immediately sent out a counter attack of their own, stopping the vines and hitting Flytrap along the way.

Suddenly, the smallest bit of light peeked over the horizon, and I threw my hands up to shield myself, even though I was wearing a cloak.

"Guys, hurry!" I called to the rangers, "The sun's coming up!"

"Right!" They all responded, "Ancient Power, Mystic Spellseal!"

Flytrap rushed at them, but was caught by the power of the rangers attack, and began to crackle with what looked like red electricity, before finally blowing up.

_Why do they always blow up?_

Immediately, the rangers went back to their normal selves, and I morphed my cloak back into my grey hoodie, and joined them to watch the de-vampired teenagers celebrate.

"We did it!" Xander said with a large smile.

"Yeah," Madi said, "Chip saved the day, we got Emma back, and the Briarwood teenagers are back to normal!"

I smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded, then abruptly my smile dropped, and I looked at everyone in shock.

"What is it?" Vida asked, concern in her voice.

My shocked face turned into a slightly pouty one, and I looked at her a little dejectedly.

"We have work today," I said, disappointed. Chip laughed, and ruffled my hair.

"Guess we better get going then," He said, and we all started off to work, but not before I sent Junky back to root core.

_Just so he doesn't follow me again…._

We entered the store, and went through the regular routine of taking up our posts and what not, but instead of Vida DJ-ing, she set up a playlist and began to dance all around the store with Leelee.

I rolled my eyes at them, and looked over to where Chip was peter ing Nick.

"So, Nick," Chip started strategically, "Now that you know that vampires _do _exist, how about joining C.O.U.N.T.V.?"

"Not interested," Nick replied, but Chip continued to follow him.

"Before you make a final decision, let me show you what your 200 bucks get you," Chip said, taking out his C.O.U.N.T.V. bag seemingly out of nowhere, and putting it on the table and opening it to show Nick.

"'How to Spot a Vampire' handbook, mirror, vampire chalk, and a vial-" Chip started excitedly, pointing each thing out as he went.

"Wait, wait, wait," Nick interrupted him, "Vampire chalk?"

"No vampire hunter worth his wooden stake would go anywhere without it," Chip said, holding up a giant piece of chalk, "Just draw a circle around the vampire, and they cannot cross the line,"

Nick laughed, and I rolled my eyes at Chip, then looked at the pile of records in front of me that I needed to sort. I sighed in defeat, and picked them up, walking over to 'The Rolling Stones' and dispersing the records there.

In a moment, I was aware of a scraping sound, and turned to see Chip drawing a circle of chalk around me.

I looked at him not amused.

"So, if Emma was a vampire, she could not cross that line," Chip said, and I rolled my eyes, and went to walk back to my spot at the register since I was done with my records.

I let out a small squeak of pain, as I tried to cross the line, but a bright blue wall of magic went up around me and shocked me every time I even touched it.

"What is it?" Xander asked, as he, Vida, and Madi jogged over. I tried to walk through the wall again, but was caught by the same shock.

I let out a small hiss, then stopped, my eyes wide.

"Did I just…." I started, and Nick nodded.

"Yeah, you hissed," He said, and I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

"Not again," I mumbled, then looked up, "What are we going to do?"

"Udonna," Vida said, and I nodded, and looked to Chip.

"Would you mind?" I said, indicating to the circle of chalk around me. Chip looked at me like I was stupid.

"Please, I'm not letting you out of there," Chip said, and I looked at him, hurt, "C'mon, Emma, you're a vampire,"

"So?" I asked incredulously, a little angry that they wouldn't let me out of here _just because _Necrolai had her creepy house plant turn me into a blood thirsty demon.

"You're a vampire, Emma," Nick said, flipping his morpher out and pointing it at me, "You can't be trusted,"

I didn't even get time to retort, as Nick waved his wand at me, and I was now trapped in his phone.

"Let's get to Udonna," Nick said, and started off to root core.

_I can't be trusted JUST BECAUSE I'm a vampire now? I don't get how that matters…._

After a most jumbled ride, we finally arrived at root core, and Nick let me out, but into another ring of chalk.

"Guys, look, I know you think you need to do this, but you don't," I said, looking at all of them, not being able to help the hurt expression from entering my face, "I'm not gonna hurt anyone,"

Everything was quiet until Chip spoke up.

"We're gonna help you Emma," He said, looking me in the eyes, "I promise,"

I smiled at that, glad that at least Chip was partially on my side.

"I think you _should _let her out," Clare said, and I jumped not noticing her standing there, but ended up bumping into the invisible wall of magic, and let out a barely audible whimper of pain.

"Or maybe not," Clare said, thinking that I tried to escpae from my prison rather than accidentally bump into it.

"We destroyed Flytrap, so Emma should be fine," Vida said, and Nick rolled his eyes.

"Well, she's not, so….." Nick started, looking for someone else to finish his sentence.

"She must be under the spell of another vampire!" Chip exclaimed, smiling.

"What if it's Necrolai?" Xander asked worriedly, and Udonna shook her head.

"Koragg would know that," She said, and I sighed, disappointed, but then thought of something.

"Hey, Koragg seems to be able to contact Nick sometimes, right?" I said, and Nick nodded uncertainly, "Then why don't you try to talk to him?"

Nick was silent for a moment, then replied.

"I can try," He said, and closed his eyes, only to open them a moment later, "Sorry guys, I guess it just doesn't work like-"

Nick was cut off suddenly, and squeezed his eyes shut in pain.

"Nick are you-" I started, but I too was cut off by an immense pain in my head, and I immediately brought my hand up to hold my head in pain.

After another moment that felt like an hour, the pain went away, leaving no traces behind.

"Chip, next time you can call him yourself," Nick said, and Udonna stepped forward suddenly.

"Emma, what just happened to you?" Udonna said, and I immediately felt guilty for not telling her about hearing Koragg in my head.

"I just, ah, got a head ache," I made an excuse quickly, then tried to change the subject, "So where are we meeting Koragg?"

"Same as last time, in the meadow north of here," Nick answered, and I nodded, "But you are staying here,"

"Who's gonna stay with Emma?" Madi asked, and I looked around at all of them, hurt.

"I'm still the bad guy?" I asked disbelievingly, looking around at each of them.

"No-" Chip started, but was cut off by Nick.

"Yes," He said with a steel voice, "Now, who's staying?"

"I will!" Clare piped, and Xander turned to her.

"Clare, she's gonna do anything and everything to get you to release her," Xander said, "Don't do it,"

"Oh, I won't!" Clare assured him, and Xander sighed anxiously.

"Let's go," Vida said, as they headed out the door.

"I need to do something, so I will not be here when you get back," Udonna called to the rangers, and they nodded. Udonna quickly disappeared, leaving only Clare and myself. I let out a mournful sigh, and sat down, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them.

_How can they be like that? I've been they're friend, for what, the past two and a half months? I've been through battles with them, protected the, laughed with them, even almost DIED for them. How come I'm the bad guy now? Why does being this way make me any different than how I was when I was human? Why can't they just accept me?..._

As I pondered these thoughts, I made up my mind immediately, and stood up.

Suddenly, I clutched my stomach and moaned in pain loudly.

"Clare," I got out in a raspy voice, "Clare, help me…."

My knees buckled underneath me, and I fell to the ground. I hear hurried footsteps shuffle over ot me quickly, and help me sit up, then felt someone pat my face.

"Emma, Emma, wake up!" Clare exclaimed, and I slowly opened my eyes.

"Clare," I mumbled, but was interrupted by a raspy cough, "….spell book….I need…the spell book,"

Clare nodded, and helped me walk to the spell book, but just as she let me out of the circle, I turned to her, my hands held out.

"Usha moy pendo!" I exclaimed, using the same spell Udonna had used on me before, and in a flash of grey light, Clare was now trapped in a snow globe of magic.

"Emma!" Clare exclaimed, and I stooped down to pick her up off the floor, sending her a sympathetic glance, "Emma, how could you?"

I sighed, and didn't respond, setting Clare on the table, and immediately saying spells to get my crap together.

"Dennum hoodie, Dennum backpack…" I said, and the list went on as I summoned all of my necessities. Meaning that my drawing pad, all of the money I currently had, my driver's license, etc. Etc. were all packed into my backpack, and I slipped on my hoodie, converting it into a cloak as I went.

"Emma, don't do this!" Clare called out desperately, and I ignored her, scribbling something down on a sheet of notebook paper, and leaving it on the oak table.

"By Clare," I whispered, as I went out the door, flipping my hood up as I went, and walked hurriedly deeper into the forest.

_Wait, where am I going?...Whatever, I just need to get out of there. Maybe I can find some village or something where I can just….blend in…._

I kept walking quickly, and dared not to look back, but only forward. I was running away….again.


	29. Chapter 29

-RANGER'S P.O.V.-

"Oh no," Madi mumbled as they entered root core, and set eyes on the globe of magic that held Clare

"Clare! What did I tell you?" Xander exclaimed, wagging a finger at poor Clare.

"I'm sorry!" Clare exclaimed from her little home, "She pretended like she was hurt, so I tried to help her, but she put me in here,"

Nick let out a long sigh, and ran a hand through his curly hair.

"We better find Udonna to get you out of there," He said, and began to walk out the door of root core again.

"No, I remember the spell," Madi said, and Nick turned to face her, "From when Udonna trapped Emma in one,"

A small, reminiscing smile flew across Nick's face for a moment, then disappeared.

"Uh, odnep yom ahsu?" Madi said, and the grey ball of magic spun, and let Clare out.

"Thanks," She said, then pointed to the door, "I gotta go find Udonna!"

Clare ran out of the room, and the rangers looked at each other, not really knowing what to do.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Chip said, and picked something up off the table, "It's a note…from Emma,"

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"Read it then, mate," Xander said, and chip opened the piece of notebook paper.

"_Rangers-_

_Sorry to have been any trouble, but you don't have to worry about me anymore. I took all my crap, and if you happen to get my iPod from Necrolai before I do, the code is 1998. Feel free to listen to music._

_I am not evil just because I'm a vampire now. I don't want to be, but sometimes life just screws us over like that. I'm still the same Emma that sword fought with Chip, or that went to see that DJ with Vida. Except for he wasn't even really a DJ, but the music wasn't half bad (even though Vida's is still better). I am also the same girl that totally pushed Madi into Ben (sorry Mads, but I saw the look you were giving him), and the same girl that went to go play basketball with Nick and Xander, even though we never really got to (Damn Necrolai). Tell Udonna that I appreciate all she's done for me, and for Clare not to lose hope on becoming a great sorceress. I want you all to know that you were the closest friends I've had in a long time, and that I'll remember you guys forever…..literally. _

_Love you,_

_Emma_

_P.S.- Can someone take care of Junky for me? I'm not planning on coming back, and I didn't bring him. Oh, and tell Toby I said thanks for letting me stay in that apartment above the store? I left the rent on his desk in his office." _Chip read the letter aloud, and when he was done, looked up at his comrades.

"I always knew she wasn't evil," Chip said earnestly, and Madi let out a small sniffle, tears welling in her eyes.

Xander seemed to debate on something for a moment, the made up his mind, and pulled Madi into a hug, letting her sniffle and cry lightly on his chest while he rubbed her back slowly and comfortingly.

Vida looked extremely shocked, and drew her gaze down to the floor, paling, and looking nauseated.

Nick began to pace the room, looking mad, upset, and completely miserable.

Suddenly, he stopped pacing when he heard Chip's voice ring out through the room.

"Guys," Chip started, a serious look in his eye, making him appear much more mature than he should have been forced to act, "I'm going to find her,"

-EMMA'S P.O.V.-

I trudged through the underbrush, ignoring the ache of pain in my heart, and continuing forward, deeper into the magic forest.

_Come, my servant….._

A cold shill swept down my spine, as I looked around for Necrolai's voice. The forest and everything else seemed to have a darker hue to it, and even the grey clouds of the sky had blotted out the sun, leaving the trees to cast shadows, and the wind to rustle the leaves gently.

Seeing nothing, I continued on warily, but constantly on edge, and jumping at every sound.

_Come to me, my servant…_

Immediately, I snapped my head up to look around, but still found no one. Beginning to panic, I started to walk faster through the forest, trying to get away from her.

_Emma…._

I swear I heard her again! What was she doing? Trying to toy with me? I began to walk faster than before, and finally breaking into a full out run, looking behind me to see who was following me.

_Emma! You can run, but you can't hide!_

Suddenly, I realized that she was in my head! Necrolai's voice was in my head! Her horrid laughter, raspy voice, I could practically see her ugly face! Sneering at me with hostility and contempt, following me everywhere I go.

I shut my eyes tightly as I ran, hoping –praying- that this voice would go away. When I opened them, I saw I wasn't even in the forest anymore, but somewhere underground. Stopping, I looked around.

The walls seemed to be made of plain stone, and the floor of some type of black marble. Long, spindly candle holders spread across the room, but only gave dim lighting. At the very far end of the room, sat a throne like structure, and on that, sat the very vampire that had been haunting me.

I immediately dropped my backpack, and summoned my sword, ready to take Necrolai down. I noticed off-handedly, though, that in my panic I had pulled my hood down, and changed it back into a hoodie. I just shrugged it off and faced Necrolai again.

"I see you've found my quaint little home," She remarked, spreading her arms out the room. I didn't answer, but kept my position, ready to attack of defend.

"And that you're not very thankful of me for giving you eternal life," She added, and flipped her 'hair' over her shoulder. Ugh, I hate it when she does that!

"No matter," She commented, and stood up, but suddenly shot magic at me. Being surprised, I wasn't able to block it, and struggled to fight as I was drawn to my knees.

Necrolai's footsteps resounded across the walls of the room, and I looked up to glare at her bitterly. Instead of coming directly to me, though, she picked up the sword that I had dropped, and looked at it knowingly, turning it in her hands.

"Do you know who this belonged to?" She asked, and I scoffed at her.

"Yeah, the first Storm," I answered, like she was the dumbest person in the world. I struggled to get up again and attack her, but the magic weighed me down, rendering me useless…. Again.

"Correct," Necrolai replied, "But what that little sorceress of yours didn't tell you, was that this sword only obeys the command of the chosen one to carry the storm,"

"You're lying!" I stated to her, and she sneered at me.

"Oh really? Watch," Necrolai said, and thrust the sword forward at my chest. I closed my eyes to brace for impact, but it never came. Opening them, I saw the sword curve with every jab that Necrolai made, bending away from me.

I gasped lightly. Why would Udonna….

"Your broom is the same way. She lied to you, girl," Necrolai declared, circling me, "She lied so that she could have you fight for them. She doesn't care about you, it was just much too good an opportunity to pass up,"

My brow creased in confusion. Maybe…. Udonna doesn't care? She did lie to me, and about something big like that, too.

"What about those friends of yours?" Necrolai said, venom dripping from her every word, "You knew you weren't evil._ I_ even knew you weren't. But, as soon as you were any different, they dropped you. They didn't appreciate you for who you were, even if the only difference was fangs. What kind of people are they, that you should risk your lives for them, and get treated like dirt? You don't deserve that…."

Surely and slowly, Necrolai's words began to make sense. They ditched me when I needed them most, and expected me to stick around. Huh, that's funny. NOT.

"But I can offer you much more," Necrolai bargained, coming to a stop in front of me, "I can give you power, I can give you revenge, I can give you anything you've ever wanted! Just join me against the rangers,"

"No!" I shouted suddenly, and Necrolai reared back in surprise, "No, I won't! I won't fall for your tricks, I won't turn evil! I won't fight against my friends, or Udonna, or Clare, because I still care about them! Even if they did hurt me! I won't!"

Necrolai looked at me, shocked, then sneered at me again.

"I'll just have to fix that!" She declared, and shot more magic at me.

This time, it didn't hurt me, but instead gave me the desire to…. Destroy the rangers? No! That's not right!

"You will be my servant!" Necrolai yelled, and I glared up at her, trying to resist the dark magic invading my thoughts and taking over my body.

"No!" I shouted back, but slowly, the magic began to become too over bearing, and started to take control of me.

After a few more moments of Necrolai sending an endless wave of magic at me, my mind and body buckled under the pressure of it, and gave in.

Slowly, I sunk into unconsciousness, and the last thing I remember was Necrolai's sneering face, and my own mind slowly morphing into the monster Necrolai had forced me to be…


	30. Chapter 30

Slowly, I began to gain consciousness, and I became more aware of the things around me.

_What happened?_

I opened my eyes slowly, then propped myself up on my elbows, looking around at me.

I was in a bedroom with two light blue walls, and two grey ones. I was sitting on the bed, which was home to light blue and light grey sheets, comforter, and pillow.

As I looked around the room more, I noticed too that there was bookshelves lined up against one wall, filled completely with books, and on another wall was an amp and several guitars- being electric and acoustic.

Against the last wall that the bed wasn't pushed against, there sat a desk with papers strewn all over it, some even falling to the floor as I watched.

I giggled slightly out loud.

_Whoever lives here sure is messy…._

As I thought these words, the door to the bedroom swung open, and a blur of color zipped into the door, even closing the door after themselves. The blur of color then proceeded towards the desk, where he stopped to pick up some of the fallen papers, and I got a good look at him.

He was tall, but not overly so. Maybe 5'9", close to Nick's height.

Startled, I thought for a moment about what I had just thought.

_Nick? Who's Nick?..._

I couldn't seem able to grasp an answer, so I just left the question alone for now, and went back to observing the person in front of me.

He had black, neck length hair from what I could see, and wore a slightly tight black t-shirt, jeans, and was complete with light blue chucks.

_I didn't even know that they made those…_

What caught my eye about him most, though, was his ears. His ears weren't pointed like an elf's, or big like Dumbo's. They were light blue, and looked surprisingly like cat ears, just like his light blue tail looked like it should belong to a feline, not a boy.

Something about this kid was familiar, like I'd seen him before. I searched through my brain frantically, but still found nothing, even though I was still curious.

Quietly, I pulled the covers back and hopped out of the bed, and slowly made my way behind him.

He seemed to have something wriggling from his ears, like two black strings, that was attached to a sort of box thing, except it was really thin. Cat-boy wiggled his body all around like he was dancing to music, even though I didn't hear any.

"Excuse me?" I said quietly, hoping to grab his attention. When I got no response, I said a little louder.

"Excuse me!" Still getting no response, I growled lowly at him, and tapped him on the shoulder.

Quickly, he whipped around and let out a squeak of surprise. I jumped from how fast he had turned around to look at me, and let out a squeak of surprise also.

After a second or two, he put a hand on his chest to calm himself down, and took the strings out of his ears.

"Oh, it's only you," Cat-boy said, sounding relieved.

I nodded, but looked at him skeptically, not saying anything.

He then proceeded to wrap the strings around the box, and looked up to smile at me.

"You're a lot quieter than I remember you," Cat-boy stated earnestly, and the level of my skeptical look increased.

"Ummmm…. I'm sorry, I don't remember you," I said earnestly, and looked him in the eyes.

A look of hurt flashed across his face, but was soon replaced by one of realization.

"Dammit, Necrolai….. had to mess with her memories," Cat-boy mumbled under his breath, and looked at the box in his hands.

"Oh, yeah, this belongs to you," Cat-boy said, and held the box out to me. Hesitantly, I took it, and looked at it curiously.

"What's it doing?" I asked, and Cat-boy slapped his forehead lightly.

"She just had to make you forget your iPod, too," Cat-boy mumbled under his breath, then took the box from my hands, and led me over to the bed where we both sat down on the end, and he began to unwind the strings.

"It's called an iPod," Cat-boy explained, and I nodded, "It plays music, and you put these in your ears to listen to it,"

I nodded, but looked at it curiously.

_How can something so small play music?..._

Cat-boy held out one of the little strings to me, and I took it uncertainly, not sure what to do with it.

"Here, like this," Cat-boy said, taking the string and putting it securely in my ear, as well as the other in his ear.

"See, now watch," He said, and pressed a button.

Music poured through the string and into my ear, making sure I heard every little detail of the song.

Smiling widely, I looked up at Cat-boy.

"This is so freakin' cool!" I exclaimed, and looked at the flat surface of the box in wonder.

Cat-boy held it out to me, and I took it from him.

"It's yours," He said over the music, taking out his string and putting it on my lap.

Smiling, I took out my string too and wrapped it up, then with a wave of my hand, sent the iPod away in a fizzle of grey magic.

"What did you just do to it?" Cat-boy asked, and I looked up to him.

"I just summoned it away, I don't wanna lose it," I said, and smiled, "So, uh…. What's your name?"

Cat-boy smiled at me, and held his hand out.

"Adrion," He said, and I smiled and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you,"

"Emma, Nice to meet you too," I replied, and looked around the room, "So this is your room?"

Adrion smiled.

"Yeah, how could you tell?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I don't know, everything here seems so…..dark," I started, looking out the window of Adrion's room, "Everything but you,"

He laughed a little bitterly at that.

"Well, welcome to the dark side," Adrion said, spreading his arms out. I looked at him confused.

"How did I get here?" I asked him, and he shifted his eyes uncomfortably.

"Well, Necrolai took you," Adrion started hesitantly, and I nodded for him to continue, "Because where you were before, they were being mean to you and not treating you right,"

I nodded, my brow creasing in confusion.

"That's weird, I don't remember," I said to myself, but Adrion heard it.

"That's ok," He stated comfortingly, "You can stay with me! Or, I mean, uh, us…. As in, Necrolai and me and the other… things down here,"

I smiled widely.

"That'd be awesome," I stated, then looked outside, "Hey, is it early morning or late night?"

Adrion looked at the clock on the wall, and turned back to me.

"Late night," He said, "Eleven… something, I can't see it,"

Adrion squinted at the clock, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"It says 11:29," I pointed out to him, and he scratched the back of his neck nervously, "You need glasses,"

"What, no! I don't need-" He started to argue, but with a flick of my wrist, grey magic shot out at Adrion's eyes, and as the magic died away, a pair of glasses were in their place.

"Better?" I asked with a smile, as he adjusted them to his face, and smiled at me.

"Definitely," Adrion stated, and stood to look at himself in a mirror, "Hey, these are nerd glasses! Cool!"

I smiled, having a hunch that he would like them. I stood up and came to stand next to him in the mirror, but frowned slightly when I couldn't see myself in it.

"Great, I'm still a vampire," I mumbled, and reached out and touched the glass. Still nothing.

Adrion gave me a sympathetic look, and reached over to pat me on the head. The motion seemed so familiar, it was beginning to scare me.

"That's ok," He said with a small, it'll-be-alright smile, "You've still got me,"

I smiled back at him, and took my hand off of the mirror.

"Hey, I'll show you around," Adrion offered, and I smiled widely and nodded. He gently took my hand, and led me out of his room and into the dark hallways…..


	31. Chapter 31

Candles littered the walls, and the oak doors that served as entryways for rooms seemed to be too big.

Adrion led me through the hallway, down another, and finally into a large, wide open space that was underground.

I looked around, and noticed that this must be a training area. Swords, axes, bows and arrows, daggers, and all sorts of other weapons were put away neatly against wooden stalls around the walls of the area.

In the larger part of the area (It was about a mile wide all around), there were different sections for different things.

One section, of course, was for sparring, another for target practice, one for axe-throwing (they threw at trees for that one), and a lot of other things that I couldn't quite make out.

"Adrion! Over here!" Someone called, and Adrion waved back, and led me over to where several people and monsters were sparring.

"Hey, Logan," Adrion called over the clash of weapons as we walked over to his friend.

This 'Logan' was extremely tall and lean, with bleach blonde hair and pastel green eyes that twinkled mischievously at me as I stood next to Adrion.

"And this, I presume, is a girlfriend of yours?" Logan asked, and I could see Adrion visibly pale.

"U-uh….I m-mean…." Adrion stuttered, and I stepped forward, hand out.

"I'm Emma, and no, we're not together," I said with a smile, and Logan took my hand to shake it.

"I see," He started, and smiled at me warmly, "I'm Logan,"

"Hey, who's this little squirt?" A rough, but childish voice reached my ears, and I turned to see a large monster with blue fur covering his entire body, small horns on his head, and yellow eyes, complete with two fangs jutting out from an under bite.

"This is Emma, Torrid," Logan introduced us, and I smiled at him.

"Nice to me-" I started, but was suddenly scooped up in a giant, furry hug.

"Hi!" Torrid exclaimed, and swung around in a circle, "It's so cool to meet you!"

He let me out of his monster hug, and I smiled up at him.

"Uh, you'll have to excuse him," Logan started, looking at me, "He's never met a human girl before,"

I scratched the back of my neck nervously.

"Actually, I'm kinda….not human," I stated, and Logan looked at me surprised, then reached forward and moved my hair aside to look at my ear, then shook his head and dropped his hand.

"I was just checking to see if you were an elf or not," Logan explained hastily, when I gave him a very skeptical look, and he proceeded to move aside his own hair to let me look at his pointed ear, "I should've known you weren't though. You're too short,"

I sighed, and nodded.

"But, you're not furry, you can't be a monster," Torrid said, picking up my arm and looking at it, then dropping it and picking up a piece of my curly hair, "Well, except for right here,"

I laughed, and Adrion stepped in to take my curly hair back from the monster.

"No, she's not a monster," Adrion said patiently, and Torrid frowned.

"Oh, no one is anymore!" He pouted, and sat down with a large thump that echoed around the arena.

"I'm…" I started, but hesitated. I knew that these guys were different, but what if they were afraid of me just because I was a vampire?

"A what?" Logan coaxed patiently, and Torrid leaned forward.

I smiled anxiously, and finally got out nervously.

"Vampire?" I said, and Logan looked at me disbelievingly, while Torrid began to roll on the ground in laughter.

"Really?" Logan asked incredulously, and I nodded.

Suddenly, another sound of laughter erupted from our right, and I turned to see this ugly dog thing, flanked by two other monsters. One was snake-like in appearance, with red eyes and orange scales, and the other was a fat, bumbling mass of fur that was no bigger than me.

"This little thing….a vampire?" The dog guy got out between laughs, and I glared at him icily, "She's probably afraid of her own shadow!"

I smirked maliciously, and crossed my arms.

"At least I don't piss my pants when I look in the mirror, dog breath," I stated, and my smirked widened when I saw the monster stop laughing and turn red from embarrassment.

Laughter erupted from where Logan, Adrion, and Torrid stood, and it only seemed to make the monster angrier.

"Fine, you little brat. Let's settle this with a duel!" The monster suddenly declared, and everyone around us, having heard him, immediately cleared out.

"Magic or non-magic?" I asked the monster, and he seemed to smile widely.

"Magic, of course," He stated, and drew out this scepter thing with a large circle on the end, and got into a fighting stance.

I smirked at him again, as my hoodie grew into a cloak, and my hood came up automatically, and in a flash of grey magic, my sword was in my hand.

"Uh….begin?" Adrion said, and the monster charged at me. Thinking quickly, I did a flip over top of it, kicking it in the back along the way and sending it stumbling forward as I landed, and turned to face it again.

"You'll pay for that, you little brat!" The monster declared, shaking his fist at me.

"Shut up and fight!" Someone called from the crowd, and shouts of agreement were heard too.

The monster seemed to be irritated with the crowd, and began to swing his staff around.

"Magic blast!" The monster shouted, and pointed the scepter at me. All at once, a large blast of magic shot out at me, and I threw my hands up.

"Sheildo Rebuta," I said under my breath, and a grey wall of magic appeared in front of me, taking the hit from the blast of magic, but sending it right back to the dog guy.

The monster stumbled backwards, and I took the opportunity to charge at him.

I immediately went for a jab to the heart, but even though the monster was still in shock, he managed to block it. I swung my sword back around in a swipe motion, and the monster jumped back, out of reach of my sword. Next, I brought my sword back quickly, and tried to bring it down on his shoulder, but the monster barely made the block with his scepter and used it to push me back.

I managed to stay upright and slide along the dirt, and then looked up to smirk at the dog monster.

He growled at me and charged, so I began to charge right into him too. On the last moment, I dropped and slid in between his legs, and turned to put my sword on his back.

"Dennum scepter," I said, and the monster's scepter was sucked into my hand, rendering him defeated.

A chorus of hoots and hollers were heard from the crowd, and the monster growled at me.

"I'll get you for this, you little demon," He growled, and I dropped my sword to let him walk forward, and handed his staff back to him.

"Good luck with that," I stated darkly, and in a most vampirey way, and my sword disappeared in a flash of grey, and I turned around to walk back to Adrion.

Suddenly, I was aware of the monster jabbing his scepter forward, most likely to hit me again. Don't ask how I know, it was probably just my new vampire senses.

I whipped around in time to kick aside the monster's weapon, and then run, jump, and kick the monster in the chest, sending him flying back and crashing into one of the stalls. Luckily for him, it was an empty stall, and not loaded with weapons.

I smirked at him again, and walked calmly over to where Adrion, Logan, and Torrid stood, pulling down my hood along the way.

"So, do you believe I'm a vampire now?" I asked Logan and Torrid. Torrid seemed to be at a loss for words, but Logan out a hand on his chin like he was thinking, and seemed to be studying me.

"Extremely pale complexion, super quick, super strength…." He mumbled to himself, and stepped forward, pointing to my mouth, "Open,"

I opened my mouth, and his eyes widened at the sight of my fangs.

"Yeah, you're a vampire," Logan stated coolly, and I looked over at Torrid.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Torrid exclaimed suddenly, and I jumped back in surprise, "I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO BEAT DOG-BREATH'S BUTT FOR A YEAR NOW, AND YOU BEAT HIM SO EASY! HOW?"

I winced from the loudness of his voice, and a few people from the stations closest to us, glanced over in irritation.

"Uh…. I don't really know," I admitted, and scratched the back of my neck nervously.

Logan sighed, and looked at Adrion.

"May I?" Logan asked, and Adrion nodded. Logan quickly grabbed my hand, and led me over to a station.

"Logan, what-" I started to ask, but was cut off.

"Hit the target," Logan said to me, handing me several daggers. I looked forward, and about twenty paces in front of me, there was a simple target. I nodded, and flipped the dagger in my hand restlessly.

Finally settling on throwing it by the blade, I took a small step forward, and chucked the dagger at the target. Without even looking where it went, I threw the next one, then the next one.

Logan whistled at the target, and I turned to see all three of them neatly in a triangle…. Inside the bulls eye.

"Not too shabby," Logan declared, and with a swipe of his hand, the daggers flew back to us, landing softly in the elf's hand.

"Next," He said, and moved us to the next station. This one happened to be an axe-throwing one, and I looked at the axes distastefully. Most of them were as big as me!

"All right Emma!" Torrid cheered for me from the side, and Adrion smiled. I looked at the axe, then picked it up. Upon feeling how heavy it was, I decided to use a little magic to help me along. I gathered up some magic, and sent it through my body and into my arm, then threw the axe.

CRACK!

The sound of a splitting tree echoed around the arena, and with a groan, the tree fell…. Split in half. Luckily, the tree didn't fall on anybody, but that didn't stop the monsters from shouting at me.

"Sorry!" I called to them, as Logan dragged me to yet another station.

"Alright, this one might be a little tricky," Logan explained, and I looked to see that the only other people who were at this station were elves.

"What you need to do, is think of an element, and charge just a little bit of magic into your hand to create a sphere. K? Now, try it," Logan explained, and I nodded, closing my eyes.

My first thought was of wind. Goes where ever it wants, and nobody can stop it. But suddenly, my mind switched to a different element.

Water. Calm and tranquil, but can change deadly in a moment.

But then, my mind suddenly switched back to wind, and then to water again. My mind wouldn't stop switching between the two, and after a moment of this, I got so fed up, I combined them out of anger.

Opening my eyes, I realized what I had done. I had combined the two elements to create a storm.

"Good!" Logan said, and Torrid fist pumped from my right, while Adrion clapped, "Now, direct it towards the target, and DON'T break it this time,"

I smiled and nodded, looking at the target in front of me that was about twenty paces away. I thrust my hand forward, and with a loud whizzing sound, the ball of magic crashed into the target, letting out the storm.

The sound of thunder crashing reached my ears, along with the patter of rain, but died away after a moment, and I looked to the target to see it soaking wet, and singed with lightning.

I smiled and looked up at Logan, who stared wide-eyed at me.

"I'm glad you're on our side," Logan stated, and I smiled as he led me to another station, but suddenly, something screeched and landed directly in front of us.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'll be needing to take Emma away for a while," Necrolai said to Logan, Adrion, and Torrid, "Come Emma, we have the Power Rangers to defeat,"

With that, she flew away, and I turned to the guys.

"Well, I'll see you later," I said to them, but suddenly Torrid scooped me up in another hug and began to bawl.

"Dooooooon't gooooooo!" Torrid cried, and I just patted his back comfortingly, even though it was like comforting a bear.

"Torrid, I'm coming back," I said, and he pulled away from me, sniffling.

"B-but….you're going up against…the power rangers," Torrid started between sniffles, "W-what if you…d-don't?"

I sighed, and patted his head, which was hard to do considering he was a foot taller than me.

"I'll try, ok?" I said with a smile, and that seemed to be enough for the monster.

"Good, but just in case" He said, and took off a necklace he wore around his neck. It had what looked like a small, swirly, dark blue shell on it, and he put it around my neck, "See ya, squirt,"

"Thanks Torrid," I smiled at him again, and took off the necklace I wore around my neck. Granted, it was a little more girly than his, with a leather string and a wooden carving of a flower on the end, but I didn't think Torrid would mind. I put it around his neck, and smiled.

"Just in case," I said, to him, and turned to Logan.

"Thanks for giving me a chance to train," I said, and grinned. Logan grinned back.

"Even though you _did _throw that axe a little too hard," He said, and I laughed nervously.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," I said, and he smiled and brushed it off.

"No problem, but hey," Logan said, and with a wave of his hand, two daggers appeared, one of which had grey wind carvings on it, and another that had grey water carvings on it, "These are for you,"

I reached out and grabbed them gently, looking at them lovingly, and then back up to Logan.

"Awww, thanks!" I said, and jumped forward to hug him, making sure I didn't impale him with the blades. He laughed, and hugged me back.

"No problem, Adrion told me that your favorite color was grey," Logan said, and I smiled up at him.

"I am so gonna kick butt with these," I said to him, and tucked them into my belt, then summoned up my sword. I looked at it lovingly, then looked to Logan, and reached to give it to him.

"Here," I said, putting it in his hands, and giving him a warm smile, "It's not a lot compared to the daggers, but I mean, if I don't come back….."

Adrion reached over and ruffled my hair with a smile.

"It's beautiful," He stated in awe of the sword, and I smiled. He then looked up to me, a smile on his face.

"I'll see you later, vampy,"

I grinned at him as he and Torrid began to walk away, and then turned to Adrion.

"Don't even say anything," Adrion said, before I even had a chance to speak. He smiled deviously at me, "I'm coming with you for….moral support,"

I grinned, and high-fived him.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked, and grabbed his arm and began running along, "Let's go kick some power ranger butt!"


	32. Chapter 32

"Do you understand the plan?" Necrolai asked me after she had explained how we were going to draw the power rangers out.

I nodded to her.

"Yes mistress," I said obediently, and I walked out into the middle of the small park.

I looked around me, and suddenly, a sharp pain hit my head, and a flash of an image went through my mind.

Me, another girl, and two boys were walking across this park to what looked like a basketball court. The girl had dark hair and a kind looking face, the boy next to her had brown hair and seemed kind of stuck up, and the boy next to him had brown hair as well, but his skin was considerably darker that everyone else's.

As suddenly as it came, the image disappeared, and I looked around me.

_What the hell was that about?..._

"Alright Emma, now!" Necrolai yelled at me, and for a moment, I forgot what I was doing, but soon remembered and started stumbling across the park.

Necrolai leapt out of hiding and ran after me, 'shooting' magic at me, but never actually hitting me.

After several minutes, the rangers still hadn't arrived, and Necrolai had finally succeeded in 'cornering' me.

"I have you now!" She declared dramatically, and pulled her arm back to throw magic at me. Just as she let the magic go, a blur of yellow dropped down from the sky and landed in front of me, taking the hit.

I quickly jumped up from behind the yellow ranger, and in front of Necrolai, changing my hoodie into a cloak and getting out my daggers.

"E-Emma?" The ranger choked out, and the other rangers soon followed, bending down to help their comrade.

I would've given him a confused look if my hood hadn't been up.

_Who is this guy?..._

"This is not your Emma," Necrolai sneered at them, "She is a faithful servant of mine,"

"Emma, why are you doing this?" The red one said desperately, and my brow creased in confusion. I don't know how to answer that! I don't even know them!

"Why do you think?" Necrolai barked at them, "You obviously don't remember how you treated her! One little change in appearance was all it took to make you turn against her!"

The rangers were quiet, and they all seemed to be silently pleading guilty until the yellow one stepped forward.

"Emma, I promised you I would get you out of this, and I will!" The yellow one launched himself at Necrolai, and I immediately jumped up to block him, kicking him in the chest, and landing gracefully on my feet.

The yellow one fell to the ground, where the rest of the rangers came to his aid.

"Let's go!" The pink one said, and all at one they launched themselves at me.

Immediately, I began tossing around my twin blades, throwing the rangers and I into a flurry of blocks and parries.

"Stop!" The blue one cried out desperately, "Emma, it's me! Madi!"

Another sharp pain hit my head, and I growled lowly as I grabbed one of her kicks to my face.

"I don't know you!" I replied to her, pushing on her foot so that she stumbled backwards.

The red one leapt at me, and I quickly jumped and swiped at him with my daggers. He dodged them, and I managed to land a kick on him as he went by, spinning him to the ground.

"Emma, why don't you recognize us?" The pink one said to me, whipping out her magi staff.

I ignored her question, even though it continued to float around my head, and ran at her with my daggers, hitting and blocking.

I managed to lock my daggers with her sword, and twisted my daggers roughly. With a cry, the pink rangers flew through the air and hit the ground.

Hearing a yell behind me, I managed to turn just in time to see the green one running towards me, magi staff raised.

I ran toward him also, and just as we were about a foot away from each other, I put up a magic shield to block him, hitting him with the hard force of his and my speed combined.

I stopped after they were all on the ground, struggling to get up.

_Wait, where's the yellow one?..._

I looked around quickly to see the yellow ranger battling Necrolai and sprinted over there, coming to a stop in between Necrolai and the yellow one.

I noticed that the yellow ranger had something besides an arrow on the end of the cross bow, but shrugged it off. I can't let him hurt Necrolai.

"C'mon, get out of the way, Emma," They yellow one said, and I ignored him, but got into a fighting stance, blades raised.

"Get him!" Necrolai yelled to me, and I ran towards the ranger immediately.

Suddenly, a throbbing started in my shoulder, and I winced at it, but continued on to fight the yellow ranger.

I swung my blades down, which he blocked with his magi-staff.

Abruptly, an all too familiar pain hit my head, and I saw a different image this time.

"_Alas, fair fellow, I've beat you," I smiled triumphantly as I held a toilet plunger to the yellow ranger's neck. He smiled back._

"_Indeed you have, beautiful maiden," He replied, putting his hands up in a gesture of peace, "And a fight well played,"_

As quick as it started, the image ended, and I shook my head.

_I couldn't know the rangers!...could I?..._

I ignored the question in my head, and continued to fight the yellow rangers. I kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying back, and giving me just enough time to leap into the air and throw magic at him.

I landed gracefully in front of Necrolai, giving the yellow one a glare.

"Emma, how could you do this to me?" The yellow one asked from the ground, struggling to move.

"You'll have to blast your friend to get to me, but your heart won't let you, will it ranger?" Necrolai called from behind me to the ranger.

Suddenly, another pain hit my head, and I was sucked into yet another image.

"_Chip, don't do that next time," I managed to get out, "Sometimes, you just gotta let one person fall to save everyone else. You coulda just killed the bitch," I mumbled, and moved to begin helping my friend up, "Chip…always the hero,"_

_Chip scoffed at me, and I stopped my fail of an endeavor to look at him curiously….my endeavor being the action of getting Chip off the ground._

"_Not a hero," He said, and looked at me with an innocent smile, "Just a friend,"_

I choked back a yelp of pain as the throbbing in my shoulder worsened, and the pain in my head increased.

"Emma!" The yellow ranger called to me, putting down his cross bow and standing up, "Emma, please. I just wanna talk,"

I looked at him curiously, but none the less summoned away my daggers, and beginning walk slowly towards him, ignoring Necrolai's commands not to. He began to walk slowly towards me, too.

"Emma," The yellow ranger started, as we stood about a foot away from each other, "Don't you remember me?"

The softness in his voice made me rethink the images that had kept popping up in my head.

_Maybe I DO know him…_

"Emma, even if you don't remember me, I still remember you," He said, softness still lacing his voice, "I know you,"

I scoffed at him.

"You don't know me," I said bitterly, even though I was curious as to what he would have to say.

The ranger seemed to smile.

"I do too," He said playfully, "I know that your favorite color's grey,"

Suddenly, and for what felt like the hundredth time, a sharp pain hit my head once more, and I saw another image.

"_What's your favorite color?" Xander asked._

"_Grey," I replied, and earned weird looks from everyone at the table._

"_Grey's not a color," Madison said, "It's a shade,"_

"_It's a neutral color," I said, as Nick took his turn in our game of Rummy._

"_It's a shade of black," Nick said pointedly._

"_No, it's a shade of white," Xander argued._

"_It's a neutral color," I said calmly, and waited for Xander to finish his turn._

_We continued to argue for a few minutes, which consisted of me using several colorful cuss words, and me flipping Xander and Nick off more than once._

"_Enough!" Udonna finally said, and we all turned our attention to her, "It depends on how you use the color grey that determines if it's dark or light,"_

I yelped lowly, and looked back up at the ranger again.

"What else?" I asked, getting a feeling in my gut that told me if the ranger kept talking, I would finally get to the end of these images and where they came from.

"I know that your favorite classic rock singers were either Rod Stewart or Led Zeppelin, and that your favorite bands were either ACDC or Journey," The yellow ranger said, and I could practically hear the reminiscing smile in his voice.

_"How 'bout you, Emma?" Chip asked excitedly, "Who's your favorite rock singer of all time?"_

_"Singer or band?" I inquired, fixing my cards._

_"Both," Chip said eagerly, as Vida drew from the deck of cards, and discarded a king of hearts._

_"I can't decide between Rod Stewart or Led Zeppelin, and ACDC or Journey, "I stated._

I took a deep breath as the memories came flooding back, and I observed the ranger in front of me.

_Chip?..._

"Keep talkin'," I said to him, and I could practically feel the hope radiating from him.

"I know that you're camera shy," The ranger continued, and the familiar pain hit my head.

_"Emma!"_

_I quickly snapped out of my thoughts, and looked to see Madi with a camera pointed to my face. Immediately, I began to blush, and I hid my face behind my hand._

_I heard Nick laugh from behind Madi._

_"Looks like some one's a little camera shy," He said with a teasing smile, and I peeked out over my hand, but quickly ducked behind it again as I realized the camera was still in front of me._

_"Whatever," I called, and Madi laughed as she flipped it closed and walked away to put her camera back._

"I know that when you left, you left your broom behind. Junky, I believe?" The ranger continued on, "He doesn't let anybody but you ride him,"

_Chip walked over to the broom, and took it from my hands._

_"Hmm," He said, as he inspected it carefully._

_Suddenly, the broom moved and whacked Chip in the forehead. Chip quickly held it away from himself with one hand, and held his forehead with his other hand._

_"That thing just hit me in the face!" He yelled, and Xander scoffed at him._

_"Please mate, get a hold of yourself," He said, taking the broom from Chip, and leaned on it like a cane, "See? There's nothing wron-"_

_Xander was cut off as he fell to the ground._

_"The broom moved!" He said unbelievingly, as he left it on the ground, and stared at it._

_I raised my eyebrows at him quizzically._

_The broom…..moves?_

_Nick stepped forward, taking hold of the broom, "C'mon guys, it's not like its haunted," He stated, but suddenly the broom flew into the air, taking Nick with it._

_"Whoa!" Nick yelled, as he was flung about in the air, "Get me down from here!"_

_We all jumped and grabbed for the broom, but it would always move out of the way._

_"Hurry up, I'm slipping!" Nick called to us as one of his hands dropped._

_Getting an idea, I pointed to the earth next to me and said, "That's it! Down!"_

_Immediately, the broom descended next to me, and Nick fell to the ground._

I winced at the pain that vibrated through my shoulder and head, then looked up at the ranger again.

_Wait, I know this guy! This is Chip!..._

I was about to lurch forward and wrap him in a hug (which is something I would never normally do), but then realized that the only way to defeat Necrolai was if I played along a while longer.

"Emma, Emma, is that you?" Chip asked, cautiously and hopefully, stretching his hand out slowly to take my hood down.

With a yell I jumped and kicked him at the same time, but not hard enough to hurt him. Just enough to make it look like it hurt. I quickly jumped back over to in front of Necrolai, and faced my friend again.

"Emma!" The other rangers exclaimed as they ran to the scene, but I ignored them and focused on Chip…the only one with what I recognized as the Dawn Crystal. I'd read about it in Udonna's books, and it was the only known thing to destroy the queen of vampires.

I paled underneath my hood.

_That must mean that Necrolai is the Queen of Vampires! HOLY SHIT!..._

Chip seemed to have a flashback of his own before making up his mind and raising his cross bow.

"Chip, don't! It's Emma!" Nick called out, and I growled at him lowly.

_Nick, shut up! You're going to ruin this!..._

Chip paid no attention to him, and aimed directly for me.

"For the good of all!" Chip said, and pulled the trigger.

The Dawn crystal quickly approached, and on the last second, I leapt out of the way…. But not soon enough.

A corner of the crystal clipped my shoulder, and sent me spinning across the hard ground, landing roughly on my already throbbing shoulder. All my energy seemed to be sucked out of me as soon as the crystal made contact with me, and all I could do was lie here helplessly.

I heard the crackling of magic, and finally an explosion, and smiled weakly as I realized that Necrolai was destroyed.

_Finally. The Wicked Bitch of the West is dead…._

I heard the pounding of footsteps approach, and felt some one gently place my head on their bent knee.

_Well, this is comfy…_

Suddenly, I heard the mournful sniffling of Madi's crying, and immediately attempted to open my eyes.

After a few seconds of struggling, I got them open a crack, and looked at Madi, smiling weakly.

"I'm not dead yet, Mads," I said softly and feebly, "You gotta do more than that to get rid of me,"

I laid my head back again, finding it even strenuous to keep it up or to keep my eyes open.

I heard Madi's sniffling stop, and heard a weak laugh come from her.

"Em," Madi started, holding back another sniffle, "You're so tough,"

I let out a small laugh that sent pain shooting through my body, but tried hard not to show it.

Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and I heard an all too familiar voice.

"You six wizards have shown great power and cunning to defeat Necrolai," Koragg said, and from the sound of his voice, I could guess he was in his giant zord mode, "This is what I have waited for,"

I growled lowly and weakly as I heard his voice, and recognized the spell he was chanting to be the one to combine with Catastros.

"Damn him," I mumbled to no one in particular, "Always shows up when I CAN'T kick his ass,"

I heard the person whose knee I was propped up on laugh, as their knee bounced slightly with their body.

"Don't worry Shorty, we'll get him for you," Nick said, and I smiled weakly, my eyes still closed. I realized that he must be the one I was resting on.

Gently, Nick laid my head on the hard ground, and everyone but him got up and ran towards Koragg.

"Don't move," Nick instructed, and I would've rolled my eyes had they been open.

"Don't worry," I said weakly, but sarcasm evident in my voice, "I won't,"

Nick forced out a laugh, then hesitated before standing up. I felt something brush along my forehead, then heard the sound of Nick's footsteps approach Koragg with the other rangers.

My brow creased in confusion.

_Did he just…kiss me? Nah, Nick isn't sappy like that. I'll bet he doesn't even LIKE me….._

I left the thought at that, and listened to the sounds of their fighting. From the spells I had heard, the rangers had combined into their megazord too, and were now creating their spell seal.

"Ancient power, mystic spell seal!" The rangers chanted.

"Dark magic, spell seal!" Koragg chanted also, and I mentally winced.

_This is going to turn out BAD….._

The rangers all cried out, and I heard the sound of megazord crashing into the ground.

_That's gonna hurt in the morning….._

Suddenly, I heard the soft pad of footsteps come across the ground toward me, and felt someone lift my head up gently, placing it on their lap.

"Hey, you ok?" The voice said gently, and I hardly recognized it, but upon instinct replied.

"Yeah," I managed weakly, sounding worse than before.

_Wow, this guy's voice is so familiar, but I don't know where I know it from…._

I heard the voice sigh.

"You're not ok," The voice said, gently taking my head off of his lap, laying it on the ground, then coming around to my side to pick me up bridal style, "Is there anywhere we can go to get you help?"

I wanted to reply, _I'm not hurt, I'm fine, _but couldn't seem to manage to get the words out.

"Udonna," I mumbled weakly, and my carrier started running right away.

"Emma, you gotta stay awake, ok?" The voice said gently, and I would've rolled my eyes if I had the energy to.

_How many times have I heard that before…._

After a few more minutes of rough terrain, I heard the familiar creak of root core's door opening, and the atmosphere changed. Instead of a woodsy atmosphere, it was now one of comfort and home.

"Udonna!" I heard Clare call out as my rescuer and I entered the room, and heard Udonna shuffle into the main room of root core.

"Over here," Udonna directed, and my rescuer seemed to follow after her. Following the creak of a door, I was laid down on something soft, and I let out a hum of comfort.

_This is really comfy…_

"What exactly happened?" Udonna asked the stranger.

"She accidentally got clipped on the shoulder by the dawn crystal while she was still a vampire," The stranger replied, and everything was quiet for a moment.

"I've never had to treat something like this before," Udonna finally came clean, and I rolled my eyes mentally.

_A.K.A. - I don't know what the hell to do…._

The stranger sighed.

"I know what to do, but the ingredients are scarce," The stranger said, and I could almost see the hope in Udonna's eyes.

"What are they? We must get to work right away," Udonna said, optimism lacing her every word.

"We'll need wolf's bane, lupine, "The stranger started, continuing to name all these crazy ingredients, and Udonna began to shuffle around the room grabbing all of them.

"There we are!" Udonna exclaimed, and the stranger hesitated.

"There's still one more," He said hesitantly, "We still need…."


	33. Chapter 33

Suddenly, the faded sound of root core's door opening was heard, and the stranger didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Udonna!"

"Udonna!"

"Udonna!"

"Udonna, help!"

"Udonna!"

The sounds of all the rangers reached my ears as they called out for Udonna in panic, and next their footsteps were heard along the hallways.

"In here," Udonna called calmly, and their footsteps raced towards the room we were in, and shuffled to get inside.

"Udonna, we were fighting and then I put Emma down and I even told her not to go anywhere and she said she wouldn't so we went to fight Koragg and then when-" Nick started, completely in a panic, and then he suddenly stopped.

I would have wriggled and squirmed had I the power to, when I felt Nick's eyes boring holes into me.

"What….. happened?" Nick's voice rang out the room, gaining a dangerous tone. I felt his eyes lift off of me, but recognized the fact that he was probably glaring at the stranger now.

"We don't have time to talk!" The stranger exclaimed, his voice becoming more familiar by the minute, "If we don't do something soon, Emma's gonna die,"

Everyone was quiet for a moment, before I heard Udonna speak up.

"What is the last ingredient?" She asked hesitantly, and I heard the stranger sigh , defeated.

"I didn't want to have to use it, but it's the only chance she's got," The stranger said, "We still need….. Night petals,"

I heard Udonna gasp, and I just lay here, confused.

_What are those?..._

"What's that?" Madi ventured.

"Night petals are one of the most dangerous plants known in the magical realm," Udonna started, and paused, "But they only grow in…"

"The Underworld," The stranger finished for her, and shuffled around in his pockets, then pulled something out and handed it to Udonna.

"Where…" Udonna started, but then heard a Magi-staff being drawn.

"If you have those, you're from the Underworld, aren't you?" Nick asked, in a threatening voice. I hadn't noticed it before, but their voices had gotten farther away, more faded.

"Yes, I am," The stranger said plainly, "But just because you wear spandex and wave around a sword, doesn't make you a ranger. Looks shouldn't matter, nor where you come from,"

I would have snickered to myself if I could've.

_I like this guy!..._

"Now, if we don't do something soon, Emma is going to die," The stranger said calmly.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Nick questioned, and I assumed he still had his Magi-staff out, "How do we know you aren't going to do this just to kill her?"

The stranger scoffed.

"If I wanted her to die," The stranger started, talking to Nick, "I would have just left her with you,"

Before Nick could retort, the stranger's muffled footsteps made their way over to Udonna.

"First of all, part of the Dawn Crystal hit Emma, which means that only part of it hit Necrolai. It takes a full Dawn Crystal to even give you _hope _of destroying her," The stranger started, and I heard him shuffle around the room, gathering items and doing who knows what with them, "Unfortunately, that means that Emma is still partly a vampire. Secondly, Night Petals will kill anyone instantly upon the chanting of a right spell… except the undead. Zombies, ghosts, vampires, it has the opposite effect on all of them, since they're already dead. And thirdly, this is the only spell that is known to bring a vampire back from a wound by the dawn crystal," The stranger stopped his running around to stand somewhere over to my left, where I recognized Udonna was.

They exchanged words, which I failed to hear due to the approaching condition called DEATH.

I sighed mentally.

_I don't wanna die. I wanna live to kick Koragg's ass! This isn't fair!..._

Suddenly, Udonna began chanting a spell, and I felt something inside me twist.

It wasn't like my stomach twisting, or like I had cramps (which really suck, too) but it was something in my chest. Right about where my heart would be.

The pain began to increase, and something began moving inside of my chest, strictly on the left side.

_Oh, yeah, I'm a vampire. I don't have a heart anymore, and now that I'm a human…._

Another rough twisting in my chest made me want to let out a yelp of pain, but I couldn't.

_Now that I'm a human, I'll definitely be needing one….._

After a moment, the pain in my chest stopped, and now I felt my canines beginning to shrink back to their original human size.

Next, I felt the magic move to my body to completely surround me, and felt my muscles becoming weaker by the second.

I realized that they were going back to their original human mass, and groaned mentally.

_Great! Now I'm NEVER going to beat Koragg! I should've just kicked his purple ass when I was a vampire and strong…._

Suddenly, the flow of magic stopped, and I found myself even more tired than before, and finally drifted into darkness….

…

I pried my eyes open sleepily, and looked around me slowly, still getting used to being back in my human body.

From the light peeping into the room from the window, I assumed it was early morning, and I could see five very tired rangers scattered around the room, sleeping.

Vida was asleep, sitting up in a chair, while Madi rested her head against her sisters bent legs.

Chip was laying on his stomach on the floor, and snoring loudly into his teddy bear, while Xander laid his head across Madi's legs.

Nick was sitting the opposite way in a chair directly to the left of the bed, his arms folded across the back of the chair, and his head resting sideways on his arms.

I smiled at them all, but soon my smile dropped as I remembered what happened.

_I can't believe that just being changed into a vampire against my will was all it took for them to judge me. Then, they want me to remember them when it's convenient for them._

I sighed mentally.

_That's not right. Even after I risked my life for them, and fought alongside them._

I thought for a moment more, before I decided what I was going to do.

Quickly and quietly, I crept out of the bed, and over the sleeping rangers. What I was safely out of the room, I summoned my backpack. It already had my belongings in it from when I last ran away, and I had already left the rent on Toby's office desk.

I sighed softly.

_There's nothing left for me here….._

I took my hoodie off the coat rack near the front of root core, slipped it on, changed my clothes with a simple spell, grabbed my backpack, and headed out the door.

I walked for a short while, but looked back at root core, felling like I forgot something.

_Did I get everything? I got my money, my clothes, food, water…. Ah, shit!_

I slapped my fore head at my own stupidity, and let out a soft, shrill whistle.

Immediately, a whizzing sound reached my ears, and Junky slammed into my sideways, almost knocking me over, but not quite.

I laughed.

"Good to see you too, boy," I said, and patted his handle. I turned and started walking away from root core again, Junky at my side, but I still couldn't help but feel like I forgot something. I drew my gaze to the forest floor as I thought.

"Where ya going?" A curious voice spoke up from in front of me, and I lifted my gaze from the ground to look up into light blue eyes.

My heart stopped, and my mouth hung open slightly open.

_Is it really….._

"Well, ya gonna answer me?" He asked again, playfully, and immediately I dropped my backpack and launched myself at the boy in front of me, tackling him in a hug.

With a thump, we both hit the ground, and I buried my face in his chest, my arms still wrapped around him.

"Whoa there, Cricket," The 'stranger' laughed out, and petted my hair.

Memories of being in the Underworld came flooding in all at once, and I pulled myself off of the 'stranger' as little as possible to look up in his face.

"Adrion?" I asked hopefully, and I got a smile in return.

"The one and only," Adrion answered, and I gave him a skeptical look.

"_My _Adrion? Adrion Parks?" I asked somewhat cautiously. He looked like my Adrion (except for the kitty ears and tail), acted like my Adrion, talked like my Adrion, but what if it isn't him?

Adrion smiled widely.

"Hell yeah," He replied, and a smile broke out onto my face. I buried myself in another hug, content to just stay here with my friend. Then, a sudden realization hit me.

I pulled back from Adrion, and shuffled to get up, grabbing my back pack on the way.

"You coming?" I asked Adrion, offering him a hand up. He gladly took it and pulled himself up, almost dragging me down in the process.

"Where are we going?" Adrion asked curiously, as I began walking away from root core and deeper into the magical dimension.

I shrugged as he walked beside me, and Junky on the other side of me.

"I don't know," I said idly, "Just….not here,"

Suddenly, a hand on my arm stopped me, and I turned to look at Adrion.

"Emma, why are you leaving?" He asked curiously, as his hand slid off my arm.

I sighed, and sat my backpack down, then sat down myself on a neighboring log. Adrion swiftly took a seat next to me. Junky stayed content in whizzing around in circles in front of us.

"When Necrolai turned me into a vampire," I started, feeling uncomfortable already, "Everyone immediately turned on me. Just add fangs, pale face, and water, and you got instant rejection,"

Everything was quiet for a moment, before Adrion spoke up.

"So you're leaving because….. you don't want that to happen again?" Adrion asked, and I nodded, almost ashamed to admit I was running away because I was scared. Absentmindedly, I began to play with Torrid's necklace, and soon it reminded me of something else.

"Adrion," I started hesitantly, "Are you…going back to the Underworld?"

Immediately, he scoffed at me, and a smile lit my face.

"Nah, are you kidding me? It's too dark down there," Adrion started, and I nodded. I knew that he much preferred the sun, even though he was REALLY pale, just like me.

"But what about Logan and Torrid?" I questioned, turning Torrid's necklace over in my hand.

Adrion looked at me, surprise evident on his face.

"You remember that?" He questioned, and I nodded hesitantly.

"Yeah," I started, "Why?"

Adrion shrugged, but the look of shock was still scrawled on his face.

"Not many people remember stuff from when Necrolai puts a spell on them," Adrion explained, and I nodded.

We were quiet for a moment, before another thing popped into my thoughts, and I reached over swiftly and punched Adrion hard on the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" He said incredulously, rubbing his sore arm.

I glared at him playfully.

"_That _ was for being missing over the last two years," I said, not really wanting to remember the time when I had found out that my best friend was gone.

Immediately, Adrion's eyes softened and he looked towards the ground.

"This might come as a really weird shock to you," Adrion started, and looked up at me, "But Necrolai….observed you, shall we say, for quite some time,"

I looked at him open-mouthed, but nodded for him to continue.

"As she observed you, she realized you were the storm," Adrion began again, "And even super heroes have weaknesses, which are usually…" He waited for me to finish his sentence.

"Kryptonite?" I asked, not knowing what else to say. Adrion laughed.

"No, they're people. Parents, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, and best friends. Necrolai saw that I was the only person you were really close to, and tried to take me with her. Then, this really big guy in purple battle armor showed up and said something about 'her ways having no honor',"

I choked back a laugh.

"That was Koragg, the honor freak," I said, smiling at my friends encounter with my arch enemy, "Please continue,"

"Well, he ended up disrupting one of Necrolai's spells, and I got sealed away," Adrion started again, uncomfortably, "Which is also where these came from,"

He pointed to his ears and I smiled widely as I reached over to touch one. As my fingers met with the soft fur, I scratched lightly, and Adrion's head inclined slightly towards the right.

I giggled, and began to scratch the other one, and watched as his head inclined slightly to the left. Adrion's eyes began to drop slightly, and I could hear a soft purr coming from his throat.

"Hey, quit it!" He said suddenly, smacking my hand away and glaring at me.

I giggled again.

"You didn't seem to mind," I said smugly, and laughed as he playfully hit me on the arm.

"So are you coming back?" Adrion asked after a moment, and I looked at the ground, as if it would tell me what to do.

"…I don't know," I finally answered, looking up at my best friend, "I don't wanna stay because I don't wanna get abandoned again. But, Udonna can help me train in magic, and Koragg always comes around here to try for the rangers and me,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. What do you have against Koragg?" Adrion asked, and I chuckled nervously.

"I kinda made a vow to beat him before I died, and he kinda made a vow to kill me," I said nervously, then continued on, "Which brings me to the fact that if I went deeper into the forest, I would most likely find a village or something where I could train in sword fighting with someone,"

I sighed in frustration, and looked at the ground.

"What does your heart wanna do?" Adrion asked, like it was the most simple question on earth.

"I haven't had a heart in what feels like so long with being a vampire and all, it's kind of hard to understand it now," I said honestly, and began to think about my question more. After a minute or so of sitting in silence, Adrion spoke up.

"You should stay," He said quietly, and I looked up to him.

"Why?" I asked him curiously.

"They obviously need you," He stated, "And with as much as Koragg goes after them, I'm sure you'll get your fair share of the action. And if you don't get enough of it, then you can leave to go train, and come back to kick Koragg's ass,"

I thought about it for a moment, and nodded. It seemed logical enough…

"But what if something happens to me again, and no one wants me?" I asked, feeling very much like a child.

Adrion smiled sweetly at me.

"I stuck with ya last time, remember?" He said, and I smiled as I remembered Torrid and Logan.

"And I mean, if push comes to shove," Adrion continued, scratching the back of his head, "You could, like, go to the Underworld,"

I laughed and ruffled his hair as I stood up, grabbing my backpack.

"I'll stay, but I am NOT going back to the Underworld," I stated, as I walked towards root core, my kitty in tow, along with my broom, "How am I supposed to kick Koragg's ass if I'm on his side?"


	34. Chapter 34

Adrion and I walked back to root core slowly, and I summoned my backpack away in case someone came outside and knew that I was trying to run away, and told Junky to go ahead and go somewhere else. I really didn't feel like answering questions right now.

We walked into root core, and I headed back to the room everyone was sleeping in earlier to check up on them. Before I could get to it though, I heard a thump and someone running into a wall.

"HOLY CHEEZITS!" I heard none other than Chip yell, and realized he must've gotten up and realized I was gone. Suddenly, the door swung open, and a blur of orange ran flat out into me.

With a loud thump, Chip and I fell to the floor, him on top of me.

After a shocked moment of looking at each other, Chip started yelling.

"Intruder! Help! Intruder!"

"Chip, what the hell, it's me!" I yelled back, and Chip eyed me skeptically.

"It is not! Emma doesn't wear that necklace! Intruder!" Chip continued yelling, and soon more shuffles were heard coming from the room nearby. A blur of black and dark brown sped out of the door way, only to trip over Chip and I as we lay right in the middle of the hallway, and in a very uncomfortable position might I add.

"What? Intruder? Where?" Nick asked sleepily, as he looked around the hallway from the floor.

"INTRUDER!" Chip yelled bloody murder again, and this time, Madi and Xander Sprinted out of the room, but tripped over everyone else scrawled out onto the floor.

"Where is he?" Xander asked, getting out his morpher from his position on the ground.

Next, a blur of pink and black shot out of the doorway, and like everyone else, tripped over the out-of-place bodies lying on the floor.

"Yeah, I'll get him!" Vida said, as she too flopped around for her morpher.

"CHIP, GET OFF OF ME!" I yelled at him, and everyone looked at me surprised.

"Emma!" Madi yelled with glee, and flung herself on top of Chip in a dog pile type attempt.

"Ems, your back to normal!" Xander yelled, and laid partially over Madi to join the dog-pile-hug thing. Soon, Nick jumped on Xander, and Vida on Nick, and they all laughed and smiled, saying how happy they were to see me again.

"She's back!" Vida yelled with glee.

"She's an intruder!" Chip yelled from on top of me.

"SHE'S LOSING AIR!" Adrion yelled over him, as I began to suffocate under the weight of the power rangers.

Everyone shuffled off of me, except for Chip, who just glared at me.

"It's not Emma!" Chip declared, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Chip, just let me up!" I said, struggling to get up. Chip quickly pinned down my arms, and used his legs to pin down mine.

"No, you're not Emma," Chip declared, and everyone looked at him skeptically.

I sighed.

"Chip, just get the hell off me," I said in a threatening voice, and Chip just glared at me.

"No," He stated haughtily, and in a way that very much reminded me of Necrolai.

I sighed, and pushed magic into my muscles, gaining enough extra strength needed to push Chip off me. I stood up, and brushed myself off.

"Emma, you're ok!" Madi said excitedly, and I just smiled, still not too sure if I wanted to be here or not.

Madi quickly engulfed me in a hug, and was soon followed by her sister, then Xander, then Chip, and finally Nick.

"Don't ever do that again! You scared the crap out of me! I'm so sorry about everything!"

"I'm sorry, Shorty, I shouldn't have thought you were the bad guy. I was so wrong,"

"Yes! I can't believe you're finally back! See? I told you I would get you out of this!"

"Emma, I'm really sorry! Oh yeah, and you fight like a demon! You should be a vampire more often!"

"Only if she's on our side! But Emma, I'm really sorry too. I shouldn't have acted the way I did,"

Their comments and smiles made me think that it might not be so bad here after all, but then again, I was human now.

_I'll just take Adrion's advice, and stay. If I need to, I'll leave, but in the meantime…_

"Thanks, guys," I said happily, smiling at hem all as I took a step back from them, "But I have someone I want you to meet,"

Adrion stepped forward on cue, smiling, though I could tell he was a little uncomfortable.

"Guys, this is Adrion, and Adrion, this is Madi, Xander, Vida, Chip, and Nick," I introduced him to everyone, who just smiled and waved, or in Chip's case, jumped forward and shook hands with my poor friend furiously.

"It's nice to meet ya!" Chip said with a goofy smile, and Adrion just smiled back, and gave me a sideways glance of nervousness.

"If you don't mind me asking," Madi started, somewhat timidly, "Where exactly are you from?"

"Yes, I was beginning to wonder that also," Udonna's voice rang out through root core, and I turned towards her and smiled as she came to stand with us, "Why don't you tell us your whole story,"

Adrion let out a small sigh, and began his story.

"Well, Emma and I became friends in Forks through work," He began, looking around uncomfortably, "Then one day, Necrolai cornered me in an alley, and tried to take me into the Underworld with her as some sort of ransom so Emma would come, too. Necrolai had been watching Emma, realized she was the Storm, and decided to try to lure her while she didn't know how to use her powers. But then some huge guy dressed in purple interrupted the seal she was making, saying something about her ways having no honor, and instead of getting sucked into the Underworld, I was sealed away where Necrolai couldn't find me for the next two years, which leads up to now,"

Adrion took a deep breath, and looked around at everyone. They all wore expressions of shock on their faces, while Nick's was sort of incredulous.

"Where were you sealed away to?" Udonna ventured, and Adrion smiled slightly at the memory.

"Emma's iPod," Adrion answered, and my mouth hung open.

"So that's why that bitch stole my iPod!" I exclaimed, and Adrion nodded, though he looked slightly worried about my anger on the subject.

"To get to your friend, and hold him for ransom," Udonna finished, then looked at Adrion curiously, "How did you escape?"

Adrion chuckled nervously, and scratched the back of his neck.

"Heh, well, you see… when Emma was in the Underworld, Necrolai took away her memory and put me in charge of her. When Necrolai needed Emma to come up, I snuck out of the gates, too," Adrion explained a little nervously, and I smiled.

"Yes, then you took her to me when the rangers could not," Udonna said, and gave him a smile, which he returned, "Thank you….. but now that the introductions are over, you must all get to work!"

I groaned lowly, and summoned my work shirt to throw on over top of my regular one.

"Work?" Adrion questioned, "Where do you guys work?"

"The Rock Porium," Vida answered, sliding her shirt on over her tank top. Adrion grinned at me.

"Sounds like your kind of place," He said, and I nodded, picking up my back pack (while discreetly summoning away all my clothes, money, teddy bear, etc. and leaving only my drawing pad and a vitamin water). Next, I summoned my iPod, and couldn't help but laugh.

_I can't believe Adrion was stuck in here for two years! WOW that must've been uncomfortable!..._

"Bye Udonna!" Vida called out, as we walked out of root core. Adrion and I fell into the back of the group slightly.

"So where do you plan on working?" I asked Adrion, and he shrugged.

"I don't know. Know any good coffee shops?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, Cameron's Coffee, it's right down the street from the Porium," I answered, and Adrion smiled in remembrance.

"It'll be good to work at a coffee shop again," He said, and I nodded, then giggled.

"What?" He asked curiously, and I reached up to flick his kitty ear lightly.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

"You can't go into public with those, much less _work," _I pointed out to him, and he scoffed.

"C'mon, I was in the Underworld for what, a week? Two weeks? I picked up some crap in that time," Adrion said, and snapped his fingers. In a fizzle of light blue magic, they were gone.

"Nice trick," I complimented, and noticed that in front of us, the rangers had started walking through the trees to get to work, and I smirked.

"Can you do _that?"_ I asked Adrion, and he stared at everyone, wide eyed.

I laughed, and grabbed his hand, walking through a tree. As we went through the tree, though, Adrion twisted slightly, and my backpack went flying out the tree before myself. When Adrion and I came out along with my backpack, I lost my balance because Adrion twisted, and fell, dragging him along with me.

With an unattractive 'oof!' on my part, and a loud thump on Adrion's, we fell into a heap on the ground. I leaned up and looked at the boy scrawled out on top of me, and laughed. Soon enough, Adrion began laughing with me also.

"Wow, that was fun!" Adrion said, and stood up, grabbing my hand and pulling me up, too.

I smiled widely at him.

"Let's do it again!" I said, and we began to walk through the tree.

"Emma!" A voice called from across the street, and I looked to see Chip waving at me to come on already.

I sighed, and stopped before we could get into the tree.

"Sorry, I gotta go to work," I told Adrion, and he smiled.

"I walk you over there!" He said, and linked arms with me, dragging me across the street and in and out of cars.

"Holy shit, Adrion!" I said, once we were safely on the opposite sidewalk, "Don't do that!"

Adrion smiled, and ruffled my hair.

"Easy, Cricket, it was just a little fun," He said, as I smoothed my hair down.

"Well, this little Cricket was almost a bug on the windshield," I answered, taking his hand and leading him into the Porium, "C'mon,"

As we entered the Porium, I noticed Toby in his office working on something, then throwing his hands up in the air triumphantly.

"Who's-" Adrion started, but didn't get to finish as Toby came rushing out of his office with something in his hands.

"I DID IT!" Toby exclaimed, and Adrion and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

_Did Toby mean that he just-_

"I finished this entire cryptomagnetic puzzle in just under forty minutes!" Toby exclaimed.

"I should work for the FBI!" Toby continued, "Or even better, the Power Rangers!"

Adrion and I choked back our laughs, and Chip, Vida, and Xander all started at him wide eyed.

"Uh, yeah toby," Chip said awkwardly, "You should….. do that,"

"I'll call them right now!" Toby exclaimed, and turned around to rush back into his office, then turned around again to look at Adrion.

"Who are you?" Toby asked, and Adrion looked at me for help.

"Toby, this is my friend Adrion, Adrion, this is-" I began, but was cut off.

"Who's you favorite rock singer of all time?" Toby questioned Adrion, and I was about to tell Toby that Adrion didn't want a job here, but didn't get the chance to.

"Zeppelin, duh," Adrion answered upon instinct, and Toby reached into his office and tossed Adrion a shirt.

"Welcome to the Porium," Toby said with a bright smile, "You may start immediately,"

Without another word, Toby entered back into his office, and Adrion looked at me.

"Welcome to work!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms up. Adrion smiled at me.

"It's not a coffee shop, but it'll work," He said, slipping on his shirt, then looking back up at me, "You gonna tell me what to do or what?"

I shrugged and smiled.

"We aren't usually very productive around here," I said, and Xander poked his head up from behind the counter.

"I heard that!" Xander exclaimed, and I laughed nervously.

"So, over here is where we keep the 60's," I said loud enough for Xander to hear, and dragged Adrion across the store to the 60's rack and away from Xander.

After walking around for a moment more and pretending to show him the many different genres of music and where they were placed, we returned back to the counter, and pulled up two of the stools to sit next to it.

"HA!" Vida called out suddenly, putting something down on the counter roughly, "I beat you by 12 dollars and 60 cents! I win the bet, and you owe me lunch,"

"Not so fast," Xander called over to Vida as he sorted some records, "Xander the great still has 12 minutes to go,"

Adrion gave me a confused look, and I rolled my eyes at them.

"Competition," I answered, and Adrion nodded.

Suddenly, the annoying click of heels and the closing of the store door alerted me of the one person I really didn't want to see right now entering the store.

"Can some one help me?" Leelee's annoying voice reached my ears, and as I looked at Adrion, his face scrunched up in disgust, too.

"She's annoying already," He whispered to me, and I nodded.

"Ah, Leelee!" Xander exclaimed, pushing Vida out of the way to strike his best sexy pose while leaning on the counter, "Can I interest you in something?"

I cringed in anticipation of what would happen next. Oh no, not the…

Xander winked, and I shuddered.

"Gives me goose bumps every time," I said under my breath, and Adrion heard me and began to snicker.

Leelee scoffed.

"Nice zit," She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder in a way that reminded me of Necrolai, "Rudolph,"

A small spark of anger welled up inside me, and a devious smile spread across my face.

"Leelee," I called to her sweetly, "Don't forget what happened last time you decided to pick on one of my friends,"

The hidden venom in my voice didn't go unnoticed, and Leelee's eyes went wide for a moment, before she flounced away.

"What was that about?" Xander asked me as I turned around.

I rolled my eyes.

"The bitch started picking on Mads, and I ripped her a new one. Enough said," I explained, with an innocent smile, but slight bitterness dripping from my every word.

Xander nodded, then rushed over to a mirror to examine his face.

Vida held back a laugh.

"Xander, the great big pimple!" she exclaimed, and Xander winced at his reflection.

"Come on guys, it's not…. That… bad….." I offered, but faltered as Xander gave me an unbelieving look.

"Guys, I have it!" Chip exclaimed suddenly, rushing over to us with the Fire Heart in his hands. Immediately, I held my hand up to his mouth.

"Lower you voice. We don't want you-know-who to find out somehow," I explained, and removed my hand when Chip nodded.

"You mean Voldemort?" Adrion questioned, and I looked at him disbelievingly.

"No, Necrolai," I answered in a hushed tone, and nodded for Chip to continue.

"It came to me when Xander looked in the mirror! It might be like two halves of the same face! Minus the zit, of course," Chip added when he noticed Xander still fussing in front of the mirror.

We all looked at each other excitedly, and smiled widely.

"Let's get to root core," Vida said with a smile, and I nodded.

"But we need Madi and Nick, too," Chip pointed out, "I'll grab Mads, Emma, you grab Nick. Meet at root core,"

"Break!" I said, and walked off to find Nick.

I looked around the store, and finally found him sitting on the steps in the back of the store.

"Nick, Chip thinks he found out the secret to you-know-what, and we're going to root core," I said with a smile, and he looked at me over the top of his magazine.

Without a word, he stood and put the magazine down, and briskly walked out the store.

I watched him with a confused expression, but none the less walked after him.

"Toby, lunch break!" I called, and ran across the street just in time to see Nick walk through it. I soon followed after him.


	35. Chapter 35

I quickly stepped out through another tree just outside of root core, and went to run forward to catch Nick.

_I wonder what's wrong with him…._

Suddenly, something jumped on me, tackling me to the ground. I let out a small yelp as I was dragged to the earth, and with a thump, my attacker landed next to me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nick whip around with his morpher in his hand, but soon my attention was attracted to my attacker.

"What was that for?" I asked disbelievingly, standing up and brushing myself off.

Adrion smiled from the ground, and soon his kitty ears and tail appeared again.

"If I was Necrolai, you would be dead right now," He pointed out, and I rolled my eyes, but sighed.

"Whatever, come on," I said, walking into root core and not even bothering to wait for my best friend.

"Hey, wait for me," Adrion called, and I heard him scramble to get up. I turned and laughed at him, and began to run forward, only to immediately run into a wall.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, as I fell backwards, but soon fell into Adrion, who fell backwards also.

After two very unattractive 'Oof!'s and several cuss words, I looked up to see Nick standing there, glaring at me with his morpher still in hand.

"Oh, sorry Nick," Adrion offered from behind me, putting his hand on my head, "Didn't see you there,"

Nick just turned his gaze to Adrion, and then walked inside without a word. I followed him with my eyes until he entered root core completely.

"What was that about?" I questioned Adrion, who just shrugged, and hoisted me up into a standing position.

"To the secret of the Fire Heart!" Adrion said, flailing an invisible sword around in front of him. I laughed and rolled my eyes, then entered root core, kitty in tow.

"See?" Chip was saying as he put our half of the scroll up to a mirror, only to show the other half of the map, "And what does that look like?"

"Mount Fuego!" Madi, Vida, Nick, and I all said at the same time, smiling to each other.

"Let's go!" I called, and changed my hoodie into my cloak. I Already had my weird uniform thing on, and with a snap of my fingers, I was now wearing my favorite chucks. I smiled, and headed out the door with the other rangers, grabbing Adrion along the way.

"Alright, we gotta get to the Fire Heart, but we're gonna have to split up to cover that much territory," Nick called to everyone as we walked briskly towards the nearby mountain, "Madi, Chip, you're with me. Emma, Anthony, you're with Vida and Xander,"

"It's Adrion!" Adrion called out to Nick as they walked away, and Nick ignored him and kept walking.

"Wonder what crawled up his butt and died," Adrion grumbled as we walked, and I heard Vida laugh.

"Now I can see why you and Emma are such great friends," Vida called from in front of us as we trudged up the mountain, "You have a mouth that could rival hers!"

I grumbled and pouted as best I could, while Adrion laughed.

"No way!" Adrion called back up to Vida, "You should've heard her rip this guy a new one once! It was hysterical!..."

Soon, I zoned everyone out and began to think.

_I wonder why Nick's being so cold now. I mean, it's not like him to hold some petty grudge, and he promised me that he would tell me the next time he was mad at me! I wonder what could've happened…._

"V! Em! Adrion! Come quick!"

Xander's voice ripped me out of my thoughts, and I ran towards him along with the others.

"What? What is it?" Vida asked, looking around.

Xander smiled widely, and turned his head to the side.

"See?" Xander said, like I should be noticing something important, "My perfect profile has been restored! I'm back!"

I stared at him in disbelief, along with Adrion and Vida, before the dumbfounded-ness finally wore off, and I punched Xander in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" Xander cried out, holding his arm.

"That's for crying wolf!" I answered, and suddenly, Adrion tapped me on the shoulder.

"Emma, look!" He said, and pointed to something farther up on the mountain than us.

"Hey guys, you see that?" I asked Vida And Xander, who nodded, and we all ran towards it.

On a boulder was engraved some type of symbol with a dragon head in it, and as I turned my head, I noticed a cave to the right of it.

I immediately entered, looking around cautiously, and finally noticing two doors. Standing in front of them, I noticed another engraving on the wall.

"Emma!" I heard Adrion call, his voice slightly panicky.

"Here," I called back, looking at the engraving still. Footsteps entered the cave, and Adrion came to stand next to me.

"Don't run away like that, I didn't know where you were!" Adrion scolded, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, mother," I replied, and heard more footsteps coming into the cave.

"Be ready for anything," Vida told Xander, who answered with a "Got it,"

I turned to let them know I found something, but saw Xander trip in a rock and trigger a trap, which poured green slime all over Vida.

After a moment of silence, Vida spoke up.

"Ew," She said simply, "Cave slime,"

I rolled my eyes, and with a small spell and a wave of my hand, Vida was slime free and not gross anymore.

"Thanks Em!' She smiled at me, and I grinned back.

"Come look at this," I said to her, and turned back to the engraving.

"The Fire heart is close at hand. For those who find it shall rule the land. But take good care because there is no clue. Is it door number one….. or door number two?" I read off the wall, and turned to my friends.

"Which one-" Xander started, but suddenly, Vida ripped open the first door, only to find a golden chest.

"That's got to be it," Adrion said, looking at it with raised eyebrows.

"Help me get I out of here," Vida said, and I looked curiously at door number two.

"Wait, I wanna find out what's in this one." I called to my friends, and pulled open the door.

"Emma, don't!" Adrion called, but I already opened the door. Letting out a squeak of surprise, I shut it immediately at the sound of harsh growling coming from inside and back away.

Adrion groaned.

"You never have been lucky," He said, and as soon as he finished his sentence, the door was busted down with a thud, and a giant monster with pointy things on the back of his head came out roaring.

"Adrion, you got a weapon?" I asked him as I summoned my daggers, and he scoffed.

"I spent two weeks in the Underworld, do you _really _think I don't have one?" He asked, and the monster charged at us.

I yelped as I was thrown out of the cave from the force of the blow, and winced as I hit the ground roughly. Immediately, I stood back up, and raised my daggers again, but not before putting my hood up to block out the sun.

The monster exited the cave, roaring, and began to charge at us again. It immediately swung it's arms towards me. I barely had enough time to react, and brought up both my daggers to block the blow.

Suddenly, a blur of black and light blue hit the monster from the side, and the monster let out a yelp of pain, and began to flail his arms around wildly.

Vida and Xander immediately morphed, and began to attempt to attack the beast, only to get hit back into the ground.

Adrion ran forwards with a sword in his hands, and began to hit the monster repeatedly. My mouth hung open at the speed he was moving.

When I was pulled out of my shock, though, I realized I should probably get in there and help him defeat this guy, and jumped forward, only to have Adrion push me back.

I stumbled backwards, then growled lowly, and rushed forwards again.

I let out an 'Oof!' as I hit the ground again, and stood up.

"Adrion, what the hell was that for?" I yelled to him angrily, as I watched him try to defeat the monster by himself.

"I don't want you to get hurt!" He called back, and I could clearly tell he was running out of breath.

"Don't worry about it, I can help you!" I called back to him, and jumped into the fight again, kicking, punching, slicing, stabbing, and blocking the monster when I could….which wasn't all the time.

Suddenly, the monster hit Adrion hard on the shoulder, spinning him up into the air, and crashing back onto the ground.

I growled at the beast.

_I am SO kicking his ass for that…._

I leapt back as I faced the monster, and suddenly remembered what I had done in the Underworld.

_Maybe I can combine this….._

I charged magic into my arm, and some more into one of my daggers, and flung it towards the beast.

A blur of gray whizzed through the air, hitting the monster directly in the chest, and creating a huge explosion. The monster was flung over the hill from the force of the blast, and another explosion resounded throughout the side of the mountain.

I summoned away my daggers immediately, and walked over to Adrion.

"Hey," I said breathlessly, as I kneeled next to him, "You okay?"

He struggled to get up and didn't respond, so I moved around behind him to help prop him up.

"C'mon Adrion, answer me," I said to him as I finally succeeded in propping him up against my body.

Adrion's head rolled back and landed on my shoulder, but he nodded anyways, taking deep breaths.

I let out a sigh.

"Good," I responded to him, "Take a breather, you fought hard,"

He just nodded again, and kept his eyes closed. I took deep breaths also, but not as hard as Adrion's, realizing now how much harder it was to fight with physical power than magic.

_I still didn't know that magic could take that much out of me. I gotta be more careful…_

I looked over to Vida and Xander, and smiled slightly as I saw Vida taking care of Xander, too.

_They're such good team mates to each other…_

"Hey!" Nick's voice rang out across the mountain side, as he, Madi, and Chip all came shuffling up towards us, "We heard an explosion, is everyone ok?"

I nodded, and Adrion nodded slightly also, while Vida helped Xander up.

"Never better," Vida responded, and I rolled my eyes.

_That's because you didn't do anything. It was all Adrion, and some of me….._

Chip ran over to where Adrion was resting, and I was struggling to keep him propped up, and smiled at us.

"Are you two, like, together or something?" Chip asked with a devious smile on his face, and I rolled my eyes at him, too tired to retort.

"Not the time, Chip!" I heard Madi call, "You can ask about their love life later, but for now, we gotta get the Secret to the fire heart out of here,"

Chip nodded, and ran to help with the chest, while I shook Adrion slightly.

"Adrion, c'mon, you gotta get up," I said to him, and he didn't move.

"Adrion," I whined, "C'mon! You're squishing me!"

I could've sworn I saw the boy smile as I began to slip on the incline we were on, and from the force of Adrion's body on my own.

I let out a yelp as we rolled down the mountain, only to stop a few feet later where the mountain evened out.

I glared at my best friend, but couldn't help but break out into a smile when I saw him smiling goofily at me.

"Jerk," I mumbled as I stood up, "You faked it!"

Adrion stood up also, and brushed his clothes off.

"I didn't fake it _completely," _he offered, and I just rolled my eyes at him, my smile still intact on my face.

"Whatever, come on," I said, and began to walk to where the rangers were hauling the chest down.


	36. Chapter 36

As I came to a stop next to them, I saw Chip give me a devious smile, which I ignored, and turned my attention to the chest in front of me.

"Hey, look at this," Madi said, as she pulled off a scroll from the box, and read it aloud.

"This ancient puzzle is your task at hand. Solve it quickly to receive what's grand. But if you fail this timely chore, the Fire Heart will be no more."

I took a closer look at the box, and noticed a timer counting down by what seemed seconds and minutes.

"Shit," I mumbled, as I looked at the chest. How the hell were we supposed to do this?

Suddenly, an explosion erupted right in front of us, knocking us all back and into the ground.

I yelped as I hit the ground roughly, landing on my shoulder, and struggled to get back up. A hand was instantly on my forearm, helping me up. I looked up to see Nick helping me, but watching our attacker. I moved away from him when I stood up, and summoned my daggers.

"Hand over the chest!" one of the stickzoids declared, as more of the monsters seemed to pop up out of no where.

"Let's ranger up!" Nick called to the other rangers, and Adrion and I looked at each other and nodded.

Immediately, I sprinted forwards along with Adrion, swinging my daggers, throwing punches, and kicking the stickzoids into each other. I swung one dagger down on one monster, then moved the other to block a hit from another beast. Suddenly, dark magic hit me from behind, and I went spinning through the air, only to land roughly on my back and hit my head on the ground.

I winced in pain and staggered to my feet, only to see now that the rangers had joined the fight. As I observed, I noticed Nick taking hit after hit, and finally falling to the ground. I rolled my eyes and rushed sprinted towards him.

_Stupid boy. Never wants to ask for help….._

I leapt through the air and tucked my arm into my body, hitting the monster with my full left side, and throwing him off course in his attempt to finish Nick.

As the monster and I both tumbled to the ground, I immediately swayed to my feet , building up some magic into one of my daggers. I found it sort of hard to concentrate, though, since my vision was blurry and my head began to hurt. I aimed the best I could, and threw my dagger towards the monster. With a crash and an explosion, the stickzoid was blown away.

I panted heavily as I summoned my dagger back to my hand, then summoned both of them away until I needed them next.

"Hey, is everyone ok?" Madi asked, seeming to panic a little at seeing me and Nick. I turned my head to glare at Nick slightly, and answered Madi.

"We're fine," I said, and looked away from Nick.

_Wait, why am I so mad at him?...Oh yeah! He's mister do-it-all-by-himself-and-not-ask-for-help! I forgot for a minute there…. *sigh* whatever. If he wants to do everything by himself, I'll let him. I shouldn't get mad….._

"Whoa there, Cricket," Adrion said, ripping me out of my thoughts, and grabbing onto my arm to keep me from swaying, "You okay?"

I nodded to him, and took my arm out of his grasp to step forward. I had only taken a few more wobbly steps before I had begun to fall again.

Adrion laughed as he caught me once more, wrapping an arm around my waist and grabbing my forearm with the other.

"Guess you're not," Adrion declared with a teasing smile, and in a quick flash of motion, I was on his back, piggy back style.

"Where are we going with this?" Chip asked, referring to the Secret of the Fire Heart while him and Xander held the chest off the ground.

"We better get it to root core," Nick answered immediately, and everyone nodded, beginning to walk in that direction.

"Adrion, you really don't need to do this," I told my best friend, squirming to get out of his grasp but not trying very hard. I didn't want to get dropped, and I didn't have a lot of energy left.

"Ems, you're tired," Adrion explained, and I rolled my eyes.

"And you're not?" I retorted, but Adrion ignored it.

"Just sit still until we get to root core, then you need to rest," Adrion explained to me, and I gave him an odd look.

"Rest? Why?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"Damn, I feel like a father," He mumbled to himself, then spoke up louder, "You used too much magic, which is why you were wobbly. In order to gain that magic back, you need to rest,"

I nodded, but squirmed uncomfortably in his hold.

_Wow, I haven't had a piggy back in so long, it's kinda weird now…_

After a few more moments of squirming, Adrion turned his head to look at me.

"Would you quit it?" He asked, clearly irritated, "It's hard to walk with you moving all around!"

"I'm sorry!" I got out, and immediately found a more comfortable position to settle down in.

"That's better," Adrion said, as I wrapped my arms lightly around his neck, and placed my chin on his shoulder.

After a few more moments of walking, the rhythmic beat of Adrion's footsteps had begun to lull me to sleep, and soon my eyes drooped completely as I entered a darkness of sleep….

I woke out of my dreamless sleep to the sound of distant voices, and as I pried my eyes opened, recognized the room I was in to be the main one of root core.

"It's still counting down," Madi said, and I looked around confused.

_What's counting down?...oh yeah! The Secret to the Fire Heart!_

Chip paced around the chest, looking it over and over again, but finally stopped walking.

"I can't make sense of it," Chip said in defeat, "I've never seen anything like this before!"

"That means none of us know what to do with it, and we've already lost a half an hour," Madi said in defeat, and sighed.

I stood from my place at the window seat, and stretched, walking over to everyone else.

"This sucks," Adrion said after a moment, and I nodded, then turned my gaze to Xander.

"Xander, come here, you have something stuck in your hair," I said to him, and reached up to gently pull some leaves out of his hair.

"Ow!" Xander exclaimed, as I yanked at the leaves. I quickly drew my hand back, afraid that I'd hurt him.

"Xander, what-" I started, but he cut me off.

"It's fine, really," He snapped, and turned around.

I looked at him concerned, and was about to ask him what happened when everyone else broke out into laughter.

"Do you guys really think this is funny?" Xander questioned, and I shook my head no, being completely serious. Everyone else continued to laugh and nodded their heads.

"C'mon Xander, you always laugh when Clare turns herself into funny things," Vida said, still smiling widely.

"C'mon, guys, leave him alone!" I said defensively, crossing my arms at them.

"You mean 'leaf' him alone!" Nick exclaimed, and everyone broke out into another round of laughter.

Madi cleared her throat, and put on a straight face.

"I'm sure it's just a side effect of your… organic powers," Madi explained, and Xander nodded. It seemed reasonable enough to me, too.

"…Knock on wood," Madi added, and another round of laughter erupted around the room.

I shook my head at them, and turned to Xander.

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking his arm out from under his cloak and examining it. I winced at the sight of it, and looked back up to Xander.

"Does it hurt at all?" I asked him, and he opened his mouth to respond, but was cut short again.

"C'mon Xander, quit pine-ing over it!" Adrion said with a teasing smile, "It'll go away,"

And yet another fresh batch of laughter poured out over the room.

"Guys, can we focus on something more important here?" Xander offered, before I could rip each and every one of those rangers a new one, "Like how we're going to open the stupid chest?"

Immediately, everyone sobered, and Chip spoke up.

"I got it!" Chip exclaimed, and we all turned to him.

"You solved it?" Vida asked excitedly, and Chip turned towards her.

"No, but I think I know who can," Chip answered, and picked up the chest, hauling it out the door.

I sighed, and looked around at everyone else.

"Alright, let's go," I offered, and followed behind Chip. In a few more moments, we stepped through to the tree in front of the record shop, and into the Rock Porium.

"Hardest puzzle in the world, huh?" Toby said, after Chip had 'explained' to Toby what we needed him to do.

"Next to impossible," Chip coaxed, and I saw Vida grin.

"Think you can beat the clock?" She coaxed further, and Toby picked the box up, and began to haul it into his office.

"I'll have it done in less than an hour!" He called back to us, and closed his office door.

"I hope this works," I said to Chip, and he grinned at me.

"Hey, don't worry," Chip offered smugly, "As soon as he figures it out, we'll create a diversion and slip away from the chest before he can open it. Fool proof,"

"Famous last words," Vida called as she walked away. I sighed, and walked towards the register, only to have someone grab my arm and yank me down to behind the counter.

"Shhhh," Xander said, putting up a mossy hand to quiet me.

"Xander, what the hell! You couldn't just walk up to me and say 'hi' like a normal person?" I asked him, and he sighed.

"Em, I need your help," Xander said, taking off his hat and sunglasses to look me in the eye, "It's getting worse,"

Xander pulled his button-up apart slightly at the top to show me a mossy chest. I winced when I sawit.

"Wow," I said, and looked him in the eye.

"You didn't do anything to cause it, so it'll just fix itself, right?" I offered, and Xander looked at me with dread.

"I did do something to cause it," Xander said, "I used Clare's perfection potion trying to fix my nose,"

I looked at him flatly, and ran a hand over my face.

"Shit, now what?" I mumbled, and heard a creaking sound soon after. I drew my gaze upwards, and jumped at what I saw, only to quiet back down when I realized it was just Xander.

"Xander," I said hesitantly, you kinda….blossomed some more,"

I handed Xander a mirror, and he winced at the bark that had now grown along the side of his face.

"What if I never turn back?" Xander asked desperately, and I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Xander, think about it," I started, looking him in the eyes, "It was a _perfection potion _made by _Clare. _No offense to her, but how long do you think this is gonna last?"

Xander seemed to debate about it mentally for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"You're right. It'll go away," Xander said positively, and I smiled back at him.

"But until then, you should probably get back to root core," I told Xander putting his hat and sunglasses back on him, "I'll tell Toby you weren't feeling good or something. Just don't worry, ok?"

"Ok," Xander responded, and we snuck through the store, all the way to the back exit, "Thanks Em,"

I smiled warmly.

"No problem," I responded, and was about to turn to leave when Xander trapped me in a hug. I returned it out of instinct, and we pulled apart a moment later. Xander was smiling widely at me, and I just returned it.

"Thanks for helping me out," Xander offered, walking out the door, and throwing over his shoulder, "See ya, Ems,"

"See ya," I responded with a small smile, and the door closed. I laughed slightly and shook my head, walking back to my station.

_I swear, that boy will be the death of me…._


	37. Chapter 37

"Clare, have you seen Xander?" I questioned the blonde immediately as I entered root core.

"No, but look!" Clare said, pointing to the wilted flowers in front of her, despair written on her face, "My perfection potion didn't work! It killed them!"

For a moment, my heart stopped beating.

…_Holy shit, Xander!_

Upon instinct, I sprinted out of the door and into the woods. A shrill whistle escaped my lips, and in a zip of wind, Junky was at my side. I immediately climbed onto him.

"Junky, we're looking for Xander! Hurry!" I instructed my broom, and he took off through the forest. My eyes scanned the area as I searched for any signs of the green ranger, but to no avail.

I cursed lowly under my breath, and finally spotted smoke coming from close by. Junky swooped towards it, and I finally noticed a figure coming out of what looked like a makeshift camp.

My heart sunk as I realized who it was.

"Phineas, have you seen Xander?" I called down to the troblin, still suspended in the air.

The troblin smiled and nodded, then pointed to in the camp. I smiled back and waved, then whipped around to the camp, jumping off my broom a little too early.

I cursed as I tumbled to the ground, and landed roughly on my butt. As I stood and brushed myself off though, I heard a familiar sound of laughter echo around the camp.

I turned to the person sitting close to the fire, and rolled my eyes, but walked towards him.

"Glad you thought that was funny," I stated dryly, and Xander just chuckled a little bit more.

"Why are you with Phineas? I've been looking all over the forest for you," I told him after a moment, trying to approach the situation delicately. I don't wanna hurt his feelings.

"Well, I'm right here. Where I fit in," Xander snapped, and looked down.

"Clare's working on an antidote for the perfection potion right now," I said, trying to comfort my distraught friend.

"It's too late," Xander replied, turning to face me, "I mean, look at me. I was so worried about looking perfect and now…I'll never be able to show my face to anyone again. Xander the great's gone for good,"

"No he's not," I replied immediately, and smiled at my friend, "He's sitting right next to me,"

"Emma, would you look at me already?" Xander snapped, pointing a leafy hand to his face, "I'm not even human anymore!"

I flinched at Xander yelling at me, but ignored the hurt for now.

_Damn, I was trying to help! You don't need to be so moody….._

"Xander, what is this?" I asked him, and grabbed his hand to hold it up.

"Emma, this is – "

"Just answer me, Xander," I snapped back at him firmly, and he sighed.

"My hand," He replied, and I let go of it.

"What's that?" I asked him, and pointed to his foot.

"My foot," Xander replied, obviously confused.

"That?"

"My knee,"

"Those,"

"My eyes,"

"That, right there,"

"My mouth,"

"Okay, and what's inside here?" I finally asked him, pointing a hand to his heart.

"My…. Heart," Xander replied, and I nodded with a smile.

"As Far as I know, all of that makes you human. You're just … well, screwed over as a tree until Clare finishes the potion. I'll stay with ya, alright?"

Xander was quiet for a moment, before smiling widely.

"You're right Ems! I'm more than just a pretty face," Xander replied, and I smiled slightly at the irony of his words.

"C'mon," I said to my friend, standing up and offering him my hand, "Let's get you back to normal,"

Xander took my hand with a smile, and we began to walk back to root core.

After a few minutes of walking though, a creaking noise was heard and Xander stopped.

"Emma, I can't move!" Xander called over to me, and I looked down at his feet.

"Ah shit, Xander, you're taking root!" I replied to him, and grabbed onto is arms quickly, attempting to pull him out.

"My arms are stiffening!" Xander called out in panic as he slowly began to stiffen.

"Guys! I have the antido-" Clare called, running down to us, but falling flat on her face.

"Clare, hurry up!" I called to her, and she jumped right back up and ran towards us.

She immediately handed me the potion, and I set right to work on spritzing Xander with it.

"Hold on, Xander, almost there," I encouraged my friend, and only got a mumble in reply.

_Shit, his mouth is probably sealed closed!_

I kept going around Xander in circles, spritzing him with the potion, until there wasn't anymore. I stepped away from him and waited for something to happen, but suddenly there was a sparkle of magic, and Xander shed all traces of leaves and bark.

He looked up at me and Clare, smiling widely.

"I couldn't have gotten through this without you, thanks," Xander said to me, and I grinned crookedly at him, "Clare, wonderful job on your potion!"

Before Clare could respond, there was a beeping on Xander's morpher. He smiled as he flipped it open, and looked up towards Clare and I.

"New spell code!" Xander exclaimed, and I smiled at him. Suddenly, Nick's panicked voice rang out through the morpher.

"_Guys, We need your help! Hurry!"_

"C'mon!" I told Xander, running towards a random tree immediately and teleporting myself.

Coming out of the tree, I realized that we were with the rangers, who seemed to be fighting… hideaks? I also noticed that Adrion was fighting amongst them, too.

"Emma, Xander, bonehead over there's going after the fire heart!" Nick called to Xander and I, and I nodded, sprinting towards where Nick had instructed.

"I got it, Xander! Help everyone else first!" I called to my friend as I ran, and he immediately jumped into the fight.

I came around the corner in time to see the monster stop and face me, so instead of stopping, I ran faster and summoned my daggers. I found some leverage on one of the stray cinder blocks lying around, and jumped off of that, swinging my daggers down.

With a cry, the beast blocked them and locked my weapons with his, flipping me over top of him. With a small yelp, I attempted to land on my feet, but to no avail. I tumbled to the ground harshly, and stood right back up, pleased to know that I had kept a safe grip on my daggers.

I ran at the beast again and attempted to stab him, or cut him at least, but the beast just reached out and hit me roughly with the dull side of his weapon, knocking me to the side once more. I growled and stood once more, and decided to try this one more time.

I ran at the beast, but this time I charged magic into my dagger. I ducked under one of the monster's attacks as I approached, and reached out my arm, slicing the beast with my dagger finally.

The stupid monster roared, and swiped at me with his weapon. I managed to dodge his attack, but not fully, and the weapon clipped me on the shoulder and sent me spinning to the ground.

I clutched my now bleeding shoulder, and sat up into a kneeling position, glaring at the monster.

"You're pathetic!" The monster growled at me, and I rolled my eyes at it.

"And you're ugly," I retorted dryly, and stood, letting go of my shoulder to clutch my daggers again.

The monster growled at me again.

"You'll pay for that!" It declared, and ran towards me, weapon raised.

"And you're dead," I whispered under my breath, and charged magic into my arm, then immediately chucked both of my daggers towards the beast. A small explosion rocked the ground, and the monster was blown to pieces.

I let out a relieved sigh, and turned to walk away, but stopped as I heard a voice.

"It's gonna take more than that!" The monster declared, and I turned to face him again.

_I should probably destroy this thing, and FAST….._

I immediately closed my eyes and began to build up magic in my palm.

_Logan, I hope you were right about this….._

I snapped my eyes open in time to see the monster sprint towards me, and I drew my arm back, then threw the ball of magic at the monster.

The magic zipped through the air, and hit the monster directly on the chest, and upon impact….blew up.

The sound of thunder and the harsh patter of rain resounded throughout the area, and as the magic fizzled away, I was glad to see a small pile of ash in the place of the monster.

I turned around at the sound of footsteps, but was soon tackled in a hug.

"Oh my- Emma, if you ever do that again, you're….. you're….. you're grounded, young lady!" Adrion declared as he embraced me tightly, and I laughed.

"Yes, mother," I replied, and smiled.

Adrion pulled away from the hug, and looked me in the eye.

"What hurts?" He demanded, just as the rangers came around the corner. I rolled my eyes, but winced as my best friend prodded my shoulder.

"Aha!" He declared, and pulled something out of his pocket.

"What's that?" Madi questioned, as she and the other rangers came to a stop in front of us.

"Bandages," Adrion replied, and pulled my hood down, "Cloak. Off,"

I sighed and shed my cloak, but turned it back into a hoodie. Adrion moved the strap of my tank top in order to get to my wound.

"It's just a scratch," I put up in my own defense, and Adrion glared at me, causing me to shut my mouth immediately.

"Well, Ems, you did pretty good in this battle!" Chip said excitedly, and pointed to the pile of ash that used to be my opponent.

"I'm glad you're on our side," Vida remarked, and I grinned, but winced as Adrion wound the bandage tightly.

"We better get back to work," Nick pointed out, and we all nodded.

"You guys go ahead, we'll be there soon," Adrion called to the rangers as they walked, not even looking up from my shoulder. They just waved back at us and kept walking towards work.

After another moment, Adrion was done bandaging my shoulder and he put the excess bandages in his pocket. I slipped my hoodie back on, and smiled at the comfort.

As we walked to work in a comfortable silence, I looked curiously over at Adrion.

"Hey, Adrion, can I ask you something?" I questioned my best friend, and he turned to grin a very cat-like smile at me.

"Sure," He replied mischievously, and I looked at him weirdly.

"Why do you carry bandages in your pockets?" I asked, and Adrion laughed slightly.

"Well, seeing as I'm best friends with you, it would be the smart thing to do with you getting hurt all the time," Adrion retorted teasingly, and dashed away towards work.

"Hey, get back here! I do not get hurt all the time!" I replied, and dashed away after him.


	38. Chapter 38

I yawned as sat in bed, wondering what I was going to do at 4:00 in the morning.

"Damn, why can't I just stay asleep," I mumbled to myself, as I drew the covers back and stumbled to my feet, looking for some pants and a shirt, "Every other teenager is asleep right now,"

I scrambled through my dresser drawer and pulled out a plain pair of grey sweatpants, then opened the drawer above that one and pulled out a black tank top, then slipped on my chucks.

"Great. Just great," I mumbled again as I pulled on my clothes, "I don't wanna sit here for the next four hours, so I'll go…."

I smiled to myself as I decided on a plan of action for the following hours, and pulled on my hoodie. I stepped out of my room and into the small kitchen/living room, and grabbed my keys off the counter, and then proceeded towards the back door.

Walking along the street towards 'Cameron's Coffee', I saw nobody else but me, and spotted no cars.

_This is kinda creepy….._

I sighed to myself, and shook my head at my fearful attitude. I mean, come on. It's freaking four fifteen in the morning. Even the _thugs _are asleep right now.

After another four minutes of walking in silence, I entered the warm, glowing coffee shop.

Approaching the counter, I noticed that it was the cashier that usually took my order, and smiled when he rubbed his eyes with a yawn.

"Hey…." Cue yawn, "Emma. Usual?" The boy asked, whom I learned to be named Julian.

I laughed a little, and smiled again.

"Yes please," I replied, and Julian nodded, then walked slowly back to behind the counter to begin brewing the first pot of coffee.

"You know that you're almost always the first person I have to brew coffee for in the morning?" Julian asked me with a smile, and I smiled crookedly.

"Oh, you know I'm worth it," I said, and he chuckled at me, and came to lean against the counter.

"Definitely," He retorted sarcastically and smiled, "But why are you always up so early?"

"'Cuz for some reason, I'm not like every other teenager in the city and I always wake up before my alarm goes off, and I can't fall back asleep," I explained a little sarcastically, and Julian smiled teasingly.

"Oh yeah, life's _definitely _out to get you," Julian replied sardonically, and I laughed.

"Well, I'm not the one doomed to early morning rising and brewing coffee for the rest of my life," I replied, smiling mischievously at Julian.

He smiled back, and shrugged.

"I don't really mind it most of the time, and it gives me time away from my family," Julian replied, "Not that I don't love them, but they're really bossy and uptight most of the time,"

I nodded back to him, "I feel your pain," I replied, as Julian stood up from his position to go get my coffee and turned around, and I summoned some money from my wallet (that I had forgotten), "My friends are like that a lot. Who needs family to do the job?"

Julian laughed and handed me my coffee, and I in turn handed him the exact change.

"Thanks Julian, I'll see you later," I called over my shoulder to him as I exited the building, and he smiled and waved.

"Have fun with those uptight friends of yours!" Julian called out to me as I left, and I turned around to stick my tongue out at him.

"Will do!" I called as the door closed, and I was once again on the street. I made sure to walk in front of all the windows of the coffee shop, and when I was safely away, touched the nearest tree.

_Don't want Julian to see anything…._

In a flash of light, I was standing in my favorite park and I made my way over to my favorite bench. In another flash of magic, I had my drawing pad and a black ink pen in my hand. Luckily, my bench had two different lamp posts on either side of it, so I was provided with enough light. Popping the cap off my pen, I began to draw.

An hour later, the first cars began to roll by, and the early morning joggers made their way around on the twisty concrete roads of the sidewalks.

I sighed to myself out of boredom, and continued to draw, the fact that I had to be at work in two hours looming over me like a cloud of despair…. Well, not literally, but who really likes work?

_Ugh, and Nick's still mad at me. I thought we had a fricking agreement to tell each other stuff…..I'll just ask him then, if he won't tell me…._

I nodded, and turned back to my drawing, deciding that today was the day I was going to clear things up with Nick.

It was now 7:15. I had been up for the last three hours, and it STILL wasn't time for work yet.

I sighed loudly to myself.

_Damn, now I sort of wish I was at work. At least then I'm not bored….._

I was snapped out of my thoughts as something came whizzing towards my face, and upon instinct my hands flew up and caught the object, leaving my pencil and drawing pad on my lap.

I looked upwards to see that I was indeed holding a basketball, and that someone was jogging towards me.

"Sorry!" The girl apologized to me immediately, and she smiled, "It was a shot gone AWOL,"

I laughed, and passed the ball back to her from my sitting position.

"No problem, I understand," I replied with a smile, and the girl grinned back at me.

"You have a nice pass. Ever played before?" She inquired nicely, and I shrugged.

"Only for the past couple years," I answered, and she nodded.

"Well, we're down a man. Wanna join?" She asked nicely, sounding hopeful. I grinned widely, and closed my drawing pad with my pen inside.

"I gotta be at work by 8:00, though," I said, and she smiled to me as we approached the basketball courts.

"Good enough for me," She replied, and stuck her hand out, "I'm Jo-Jo. Nice to meet ya!"

I smiled and shook her hand.

"Emma, nice to meet you to," I replied, and she smiled back then faced forward. I dropped my drawing pad on the ground next to a bag marked 'JO-JO'S' and hussled to keep up with my new friend.

"Guys!" She called to the people on the court, and I turned to look at them, "I recruited a new player!"

My eyes widened slightly at the people she was playing with. Tattoos, wife beaters, and Justin Beiber style haircuts filled my vision for a moment, then disappeared. We were the only girls here, and were surrounded by the tallest guys I have ever seen.

_Man, they're all so different! You have Mr. Tattoo sleeve playing on the same team as Justin Beiber hair!_

"Emma, this is my brother David," Jo-Jo started, pointing to a medium sized boy with brown hair that looked just like Jo-Jo, and I smiled, "And this is David, Seth, Jared, Spencer, Chad, Luke, Riley, Asher, and Cam,"

I smiled at each boy, but knew in the back of my head that I would never remember their names.

"Everyone, this is Emma," Jo-Jo started, but was interrupted by a chorus of 'Hi!'s, 'Yo.'s, 'S'up.'s, and 'Hello.'s.

"And she is going to be on Cam's team," Jo-Jo stated, and the boys immediately split into their teams. The boy who I assumed was Cam pulled me by the arm over into their huddle.

"Nice to meet you Emma, and welcome to team Camden," Cam offered with a smile, and I grinned back. Cam turned back to his team.

"Alright guys, you know the drill. Pick and roll," Cam said, and I nodded as did everyone else, "All right team, let's go,"

For the next forty minutes, we played basketball, and I found that it was pretty fun playing with these guys. Granted, most of them did look a _little _rough, but they were really nice. Except for Seth. He was kind of scary, and didn't say much.

"Jo-Jo, what time is it?" I asked my newfound basketball friend as we took a thirty second time out. She pulled out her phone, and looked at the cover.

"7:51," She replied, and my eyes widened.

"I gotta go, Jo-Jo, see ya later!" I called as I picked up my stuff from next to her bag.

"Bye Emma, but we meet here at seven every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, okay?" Jo-Jo called out after me as I began to jog to work. I waved at her over my shoulder and turned around to smile at her.

"I'll be here on one of those days eventually! Bye!" I yelled back to her, and saw all the other boys wave to me too. I smiled wider.

"Bye guys!" I called before turning back around and full out sprinting to work.

_Shit, I'm gonna be late….._


	39. Chapter 39

I panted heavily as I ran into the 'Rock Porium', and leaned on the counter, trying to catch my breath.

"Emma….Are you all right?" An Australian voice reached my ears, and I turned my head to look at Xander.

"Never….Better," I responded with a smile, and turned back to panting heavily, "What…..time is…..it?"

"Uh….7:59," He responded, and I threw my fist into the air.

"Yes!" I said, and smiled, then proceeded to behind the counter with Xander.

"Is Toby here?" I asked once I had caught my breath enough to speak in full sentences.

"Not yet," Xander replied, "It's strange though. He's usually here before us,"

I nodded and looked out the window, searching for our boss on the streets.

"Yeah," I replied, and suddenly a blur of yellow busted through the door.

"Guys!" Chip began in a panic, "Necrolai just grabbed Toby! Come on!"

Immediately, we all sprinted out of the store, and around the back of it where the dumpsters were kept.

The rangers immediately summoned their flying jet-skis (as I liked to call them), and I let out a shrill whistle for my broom. Junky zipped around the corner, and I climbed on.

I looked around to see everyone ready, then looked towards Adrion standing awkwardly, not knowing what to do. I smiled.

"Looks like you gotta sit this one out, Adrion," I told my friend with a rueful smile, "Don't need Toby to think you're linked to the power rangers in any way, shape, or form,"

Adrion smirked at me, and in a flash of light, he was wearing a cloak similar to mine, except in black. He flipped his hood up, and walked towards me.

_It even shields his face like mine!..._

He immediately climbed onto the back of Junky with me, and wrapped his arms securely around my waist.

"Let's go!" Nick said to everyone, and we immediately set off to find Toby.

In a matter of seconds, we spotted Necrolai and our employer, and I immediately summoned my cloak and put the hood up to hide my face.

_Don't need Toby to know that I'm associated with the Power Rangers, either…_

Quickly, Junky swooped down to the ground, and Adrion and I hopped off.

"Step aside, Rangers!" Necrolai barked at us, and I crossed my arms and glared at her from under my hood.

Suddenly, and all at once, the rangers sprinted towards Necrolai and began to exchange kicks and punches with her, but also leaving Adrion and I in the dust. I looked over at my best friend disbelievingly, and he returned the look.

"You think they would at least _wait_ for us," I stated, and turned back towards the fight, but not jumping in to help.

"Yeah," Adrion agreed with me.

I sighed softly, and proceeded to watch the fight.

_Whatever. I'm sure they can handle themselves. After all, it's five against one…_

But from what I was observing at the moment, we were getting our butts kicked, marinated, and served to us on a silver platter. This did not look good.

Necrolai had gotten through all the rangers, and was now turned towards Toby.

"Adrion, come on!" I told my friend, and we both rushed in front of Necrolai, standing between Toby and her.

"Get out of my way, Dark One!" Necrolai barked, and I looked towards Adrion, then at her curiously.

"Who are you talking to?" I questioned her, keeping my voice soft, low, and neutral.

_I don't need Toby recognizing my voice….._

Necrolai scoffed, and began to walk back and forth in front of Adrion and I.

"Don't be fooled by thinking that I am speaking to the one with the darker cloak on," Necrolai started, and I suddenly got a uneasy feeling as to where this was going, "I talk to the one with darkness in her soul,"

Shocked, my brow furrowed in concentration and confusion.

_What does she mean? I'm not evil…..._

"I can see it all around you," Necrolai began again, and took a step forward towards me, and I took an involuntary step back, "How you fight, how you talk, how you let you friends go into battle without your assistance, it's all around you,"

_What? No, they left without me! I thought they could handle themselves!..._

I took another step back as she took a step forward, and suddenly Adrion stepped in front of me. I could practically feel the anger radiating from him.

"She's _not evil," _Adrion stated, anger dripping from his every word. Necrolai sneered at him haughtily.

"You decide for yourself!" Necrolai barked, and put her hands on her hips, "But I _will _get the gatekeeper, one way or another,"

With those last words said, Necrolai flew off, leaving a confused bunch of teenagers in her wake.

We all looked around at each other with what I'm sure were confused expressions (not like I could see anybody's face), and summoned our vehicles. I immediately jumped onto Junky, and Adrion climbed on after me.

"To root core?" Nick questioned.

"After work," I suggested, and nodded my head towards Toby, who was still watching us with a mix of fear and awe.

After a moment, we were all standing at the back of the Porium, and we quickly filed in and took our regular positions.

Throughout the whole day though, it was kind of hard to focus. The things Necrolai said kept running through my head, and I honestly didn't know what to think.

_What did she mean that I had 'darkness in my soul'? I'm not evil, right?..._

_**No, you just fight like a demon and are turned into a vampire every once in a while. That doesn't make you evil at all….. **_A sarcastic, familiar voice answered me in my head, and sent a sharp pain through my skull. I tried hard not to wince.

_Koragg, what the hell do you want?..._

A deep chuckle echoed in my head before the Knight answered me.

_**I just thought you'd like someone to ….talk to, is all. It's not like your pathetic excuses for friends would ever understand. You seem to be very confused on what Necrolai told you…**_

_I don't want any part of you! Now get the hell out of my head before I make you!_

_**Ooooh, temper, temper. I just want to give you some…. Friendly answers. Don't you want to know what this is all about?...**_

_No, and you can kiss my ass Koragg! Now get the hell out of my head!..._

Suddenly, a large gust of anger swept through me, and I could feel the connection with Koragg ripping and ending, but at the same time taking up a lot of my energy.

I winced at the headache that now vibrated through my head, and glared at the countertop that did absolutely nothing to me.

_I'm so confused about everything. What am I supposed to do?..._

The rest of the day at work passed by uneventfully (or as uneventful as it seemed to get around here), except for when Chip seemed to summon Silly String from thin air, and began to spray it at everyone.

Adrion laughed as he began pulling silly string off of himself, and piling it on the counter, then looking up at me.

I struggled to get the silly string out of my hair and off of my back, which seemed to make Adrion laugh harder.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh your tail off, Kitten" I told my friend, and smirked a little when I saw his eye twitch in annoyance.

"Whatever," He mumbled, and moved around to the other side of the counter to get the silly string off of my back and hair for me.

"Thanks," I said with a soft smile, and Adrion just stuck his tongue out at me. I let out a soft laugh, and picked up the string to throw away. Out of the corner of my eye though, I noticed that Nick was glaring at….

_Adrion? What did Adrion do to him?..._

Just the thought of Nick judging Adrion unfairly made my blood boil, and I quickly threw the silly string away and sat back down at the counter, ignoring Nick.

_Whatever. He can just be a jerk. See if I care…_

An hour of cleaning up silly string later, we were at root core, and promptly entered to the main room.

"Udonna," Xander called out as we approached the sorceress who was standing by the Xenotome, "We just had another close encounter with Necrolai. She was looking for someone called….what was it?"

"The Goat Keeper," Chip offered, and I looked at him quizically.

"The _Gate _Keeper," I corrected my friend, and he just laughed nervously.

Udonna froze immediately, and everything seemed to go silent.

"The Gatekeeper was a powerful sorceress named Niella," Udonna started after a moment, and she approached the crystal ball laying on the wooden table, "…..She was my sister,"

I could practically feel the shock radiating from everyone, but for some reason, I sort of expected this to happen.

"Niella cast as spell that sealed the gate and banished Morticon and his armies to the Underworld," Udonna bean again, and we all listened attentively, "The spell was so strong that it depleted all of her life force. When the gate was lowered to the depths, Niella was gone. But her spirit lives on in my heart, and through the legacy of her heir,"

"She had a child?" Madi asked, and Udonna nodded.

"Yes, and I fear that is who Necrolai is seeking," Udonna answered.

"So, we have to find the child first and protect them," Vida said, a little uncertainly.

"Yes, but you won't have to look far," Udonna answered, and suddenly realization set in on me.

_Holy crap, the Gatekeeper is…_

"The Gatekeeper is," Udonna started, and I finished her sentence for her.

"Clare," I said, and everyone looked at me.

"Yes, but how did you know?" Udonna asked, and I shrugged.

"It seems that it's only natural to keep your niece close to you, especially if she's all you have left of your sister," I said softly, and Udonna nodded.

Suddenly, a familiar sound of magic reached my ears, and Clare appeared out of nowhere in front of my very eyes.

Clare looked around nervously, and smiled uncomfortably.

"Uh…. Surprise?" Chip offered awkwardly, and Udonna sighed.

"I wish to speak to my niece alone, if you don't mind," Udonna said, and immediately we all filed out of the room and into the forest.

After a while, the uncomfortable atmosphere faded away, and left us with a more friendly feel to the air.

Chip and Nick had started sparring with their magi-staffs, and Xander and Vida had summoned their jet-skis to race around the forest. Adrion was currently toying with his sword, cat ears and tail out.

With a small sigh, I stood up from my sitting position, and walked into the forest unnoticed.

After walking for a while, I summoned my daggers and began to look them over for close inspection.

They were beautifully crafted, with black leather bound around the hilt of them, and grey engravings slithering around the hilt, then traveling up and twisting around the metal of the blade, too. The engraving on one dagger was of water, and on the other was wind. I smiled as I remembered my time in the Underworld and how I had combined these two elements.

"Wow, they're so beautiful," I mumbled to myself out loud, and jumped when I heard a response.

"Indeed they are. An elf's handy work, I presume?"

...

Hi everyone. It's me. ^-^' So, uh, sorry for disappearing off the face of the planet for like, three months. really. I'm sorry. So, in order to make it up to my readers, I'm working extra hard to get this story back on track. I had the plot planned out and everything else, but it's been kinda hard to write lately. So really. Sorry. v_v I would also like to let you know that at intervals, I have tests, exams, church, etc. etc., so if I vanish off the face of the planet for a week or two, I will be back. ^-^' Have no fear. I am NOT about to let this fan fic die! This is the LONGEst one I have EVER written, and I will NOT let it go. ^-^ So, I just wanted to say 'Hi, I'm back from the dead.', and I bid you all a wonderful day. ^-^

~Your Truly,

Nobody


	40. Chapter 40

Immediately, my daggers were in either of my hands, and I looked around for the voice.

"Where are you?" I questioned the voice after a moment of searching for it, and not finding it.

"Directly in front of you, maiden," The voice answered politely, and I looked directly in front of me.

"All I see are trees," I pointed out to the voice uncertainly.

"Yes! That is me, the one you are looking at right now!" The voice answered, and I raised my eyebrow.

"You're….. the tree?" I questioned it quizzically.

"Yes, is that so hard to believe, my dear damsel?" The tree retorted, and my eyes widened.

"I don't know if I believe you," I said uncertainly, and I heard the voice sigh.

Suddenly, a rumbling was heard from underneath my feet, and something wrapped around my ankles, then waist, and lifted me up into the air.

I let out a small yelp as I looked down at what was suspending me.

"Okay! Okay! I believe you!" I said to the tree, who promptly set me on the ground and released me from the grip of his _roots_.

Slightly shaken, I looked back up at the tree.

"So…. Are all trees like you?" I questioned, then quickly added, "In the sense that you can….. _speak. _And…._move,"_

The tree laughed, and responded.

"Not all of us. Only very few can speak to humans," The tree responded in a very proper manner, "But very few humans can speak to trees. Are you a witch?"

I shrugged to the tree, and sat down cross legged in front of it.

"I don't really know what I am. What's your classification of 'witch'?" I asked the tree back.

"Do you cast spells?" The tree asked, and I nodded.

"That is enough to make you a witch," The tree responded matter of factly, "Do you fight on anyone's side?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I'm with the Power Rangers, if you can keep it a secret,"

"Your secret is safe with me, my lady," The tree responded, and I smiled at it, "But might I ask, do you and the Powder Wranglers fight for good, or evil?"

"Uh, that's _Power Rangers,_ and I know firsthand that they fight for the cause of good," I started, and then looked down to my hands folded in my lap, "Myself….. I'm not so sure,"

"Whatever do you mean, dear one?" The tree asked, sounding quite confused, and I shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just that…. I'm the only one that bad things seem to happen to, I have a strong connection with a very powerful and evil Knight, I've been to the Underworld and back, and one of the things living down there seem to be very convinced that I'm evil and should work for their side!" I responded, sounding slightly hysterical by the end. I took a deep breath to steady myself, and looked up to see the tree's leaves shaking with laughter.

"My dear one!" The tree said between shakes of laughter, "That does not make you evil! Hear, hear. Bad things only happen to good people, no?"

I nodded hesitantly, and the tree went on.

"You said that this Knight was very powerful. That is why your connection is so strong, not because of your willingness to become evil," The tree said, and I smiled slightly, "And it is a matter of luck and miracle that you were able to return from the Underworld to tell the tale!"

I smiled and looked up at the tree.

_Wow, this guy's making me feel better already…._

"And as for the creature who is convinced you are evil," The tree started, "It is a mere matter of being stuck in a dark hole for too long. Poor creature, the dark most likely took over her mind! I'm willing to bet that _everything_ she looks at looks evil to her!"

I giggled at this tree calling Necrolai crazy (in a very refined sort of way).

"Thanks, mister," I responded, opting to call said mysterious shrubbery 'mister'.

"Oh no, sweet maiden, my name is Orothen," The tree responded, and bent halfway up it's trunk in a sort of bow.

I smiled and stood, but instead decided to curtsy (or as close as I could to it).

"My name is Emma," I responded, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Orothen,"

"And you as well, dear one," Orothen responded, 'standing' back up straight, and I sat down cross legged in front of it again.

For the next few minutes, Orothen and I talked like we had known eachother for a long time. I asked him when the last time he spoke to some one was, and he told me sometime in the seventeenth century.

_So that's why his speech pattern's so rustic…_

After talking for another ten minutes, I looked up to the sky to see it was already dark.

_Huh. Time flies when you're talking to a new tree friend…._

"Well Orothen," I said, and stood up, "It was wonderful meeting you, but it's dark, and I really gotta get home,"

"I see," Orothen responded, sounding slightly disappointed, "It was quite enjoyable meeting you as well, dear maiden,"

Orothen bowed, and I curtsied (although 'attempted to curtsy' is probably more like it ), and I began to walk away.

After a few steps though, I turned back around and walked in front of Orothen.

"Is something wrong, dear one?" The tree questioned, and I shook my head.

"Orothen, you've done a lot for me today, and I wanted to do something for you," I told him, and didn't look up, but instead began to look through my spell book Udonna had given the rangers and I the first time we met. I found the spell I was looking for, and stepped back from the tree.

_Here goes nothing…._

"Reguh poil knott!" I chanted, and all at once grey magic shot out of my palm and went into Orothen.

In a matter of seconds, Orothen's bark had become more of a brown then the grey-brown it previously was, his branches had perked up more, and his leaves were now a million brilliant shades of green.

"Oh my dear child, thank you!" Orothen exclaimed, and I smiled up at the excited tree.

"It was for a friend," I responded, and ran up to the tree to wrap my arms as far as they could go around the trunk.

Quickly, I pulled away from the tree, and began to walk away.

"See you later, Orothen!" I called back to the tree.

"Farewell, my sweet maiden. Until we meet again!" Orothen called back, waving a branch around in a sort of wave. I giggled and turned back around, heading home.

After a few moments of walking through the forest though, a feeling of fatigue washed over me, and I staggered a step further.

_What the hell…_

I didn't get a chance to dwell on it though, and soon I saw a shadow move out of the corner of my eye.

Immediately, I summoned my daggers (that I had earlier summoned away while talking to my new tree friend), and swung them around to meet the shadow's neck.

After looking my 'attacker' in the eye for a moment, I finally realized fully who it was.

I sighed in relief and summoned my daggers away.

"Holy shit, Nick, you scared me," I told the ranger, and he looked at me questioningly.

"Emma, where have you been for the past two hours?" Nick questioned me exasperatedly.

As I finally snapped out of survival mode, I remembered why I was so mad at him in the first place.

Unfortunately, by snapping out of my 'survival mode', my adrenaline also wore away, and fatigue threatened to take hold of me again.

"With a friend," I finally replied, figuring it was the shortest, most true answer I could reply.

Dizziness began to take its toll on me, and I placed my hand on a neighboring tree to steady myself.

Nick luckily didn't notice me do so, but instead began to yell at me.

"What do you mean by that?" Nick asked me, and I could tell he was growing more irritated by the moment.

I glared at him, and responded quickly.

"Why do you even care?" I questioned him angrily, and watched his face slowly fall, "It's not like you've even spoken a word to me for the past week! You _promised _me you would tell me if you were upset at me. We had a deal, remember?"

_Ugh! Why does he have to be such a jerk sometimes?... I better just get out of here before I say something I don't mean…._

I didn't even wait for him to reply, but instead turned on my heel and began to walk away.

I forgot all about my weariness in the heat of the moment though, and ended up staggering (again) instead of walking.

"Emma, wait!" Nick called to me, and I felt a hand on my shoulder a moment later.

"What?" I snapped as Nick turned my shoulder around so I was facing him.

"I…..I'm not mad at you," Nick hesitated, looking at the ground instead of meeting my eyes, and I looked at him disbelievingly.

"Then why aren't you talking to me?" I questioned him, softer this time though.

"It's just that…." Nick began, and sighed out of frustration, but looked up at me and continued, "It's just that since Adrion came along, you haven't really had time for anybody else is all,"

I was about to retort angrily, but suddenly Nick put a hand over my mouth.

"But I understand that having your best friend come back after being missing for two years makes you wanna spend a lot of time with him! Not that there's anything wrong with that," Nick began to bumble, and I raised an eyebrow in question at his antics, "But there's just other people that care about you, you know? And Adrion's not leaving anytime soon, so there _is_ room for other people, right? And I'm not trying to be, like, your mother or anything when I ask you where you were. I was just trying to be a good friend! Make sure you were ok, and didn't get kidnapped or murdered or turned into a vampire again! So, I'm not really mad at you, I was just, you know…. Frustrated," Nick finally ended, and looked at me uncertainly, "So…. Do we have a deal?"

I looked at him, and his outstretched hand quizzically, and Nick finally took his hand off my mouth.

"Deal?" I repeated in question, not quite following what he meant.

_Ugh, this exhaust is really getting to me. I can't even understand a conversation!..._

"You know, to tell each other when we're mad at each other and when you're hurt?" Nick replied, sounding _extremely _unsure.

I looked at him in the dimness of the forest night, and contemplated his offer.

"Deal," I replied after a moment, and shook his hand with a smile. Nick smiled back at me, and released my hand after a moment.

"So, do you need me to walk you home?" Nick questioned me, and I grinned crookedly.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I replied, and stuck my hand through a nearby tree as to prove my point, "See ya tomorrow, Nick. Stay safe,"

I teleported the rest of myself through the tree after my hand, but managed to hear Nick reply.

"Yeah. You too…"

I smiled to myself as I walked through the other side of the tree, happy that Nick and I were at least on speaking terms.

But my smile dropped as I took a look at my surroundings.

_I'm not at home, I'm still stuck in the forest…_

I looked around confusedly, before teleporting myself through another tree.

Again, I was still in the forest, and growing more exhausted by the minute.

_Shit, what did I do to make myself this tired?..._

After teleporting myself through yet another tree, I groaned in frustration.

"Oh yeah," I mumbled to myself as I staggered around pointlessly through the forest, "I decided to use a spell I had never cast before! Emma, you idiot!"

I quickly scrambled to get the spell book out of my pocket, and flipped it open to the page where the spell I had used was.

"Oh shit," I mumbled, and put the spell book away.

_Okay. I can't get to my apartment, much less out of the forest. My best shot is root core… if I can find it…._

I looked around me in all directions, but the forest began to get blurry.

Deciding to straight, I began to stumble through the forest, occasionally tripping over rocks and roots in my haste.

Throughout the entire time though, my vision began to get more and more blurry, and pretty soon I had no idea where I was going.

Suddenly, I let out a yelp as I tripped over a fallen root, twisting my ankle.

I groaned to myself as I lay on the hard forest ground.

_Great, Emma. Just freaking GREAT. You just HAD to be clumsy and TRIP! WONDERFUL!..._

I struggled to get up, but doing so only made my vision blur more, and my head become foggier.

I laid back down on the ground, and suddenly an idea came to me.

I struggled greatly to let out a shrill whistle, and after the first couple tries I succeeded.

Almost immediately, a swooshing sound reached my ears, and I could see the vague, blurry outline of my broom hovering over top of me.

"Little….help here…. Junky," I managed to get out to my broom.

Junky, from what I could still manage to see, hovered lower, and finally lay on the ground next to me. With a lot of struggle, I managed to roll over so I was now laying on top of my broom, facing the handle.

"…Root core," I told my broom weakly, and Junky took off immediately.

My arms hung over the sides of my broom, and I watched the forest fly by underneath of me in a blur of green and brown, but then slowly fade away into darkness…..

….

Hey guys. It's me. The writer. So you know how five to six days ago I told you I would be updating more often? Fear not, I'll still be updating. ^w^ But I also mentioned that there would be time lapses where I would disappear off the face of the planet. -_- Behold, one of those miraculous time lapses. It seems as though every time I get back into a writing groove….. my computer decides to hate me and freaking shuts down… -_- So, I'm sorry. And here's a chapter to make up for it. ^-^


	41. Chapter 41

I let out a groan as I pried my eyes open, and squinted them against the sun shining in through a window.

_Where the hell am I?..._

"Ah, Emma, I'm glad to see that you're up," Udonna's voice rang out, and I turned my head to see her standing in the doorway of a familiar room.

_Oh yeah, we're at root core. Duh….._

"Uh, yeah," I stated somewhat awkwardly, sitting up, "I'm up….. What exactly happened?"

Udonna sighed in exasperation and sat at the end of the bed I was on.

"You tell me," She stated, giving me a cold look that said 'if-you-lie-to-me-I-_will_-find-out'.

"Uh, well," I began to stutter under the sorceress' glare, and finally opted to look down at my hands, "I went into the forest, and I made a new friend. His name's Orothen, and he's really nice. You should meet him sometime. Anyways, I used a spell out of the spell book you gave me on my first day at root core, and it turned out that it was a level four spell, so it kinda…."

"Depleted almost all of your energy, rendering you helpless, exhausted, and eventually unconscious in the forest?" Udonna inquired sharply, and I looked up meekly to meet her gaze.

"….Yeah," I stated plainly, and gave an embarrassed smile, "But I couldn't really tell it was a level four! It was dark outside, and it looked like a level two!"

"It was dark outside, and you were still in the forest, lost no doubt!" Udonna exclaimed, and I winced.

_Okay. Probably shouldn't have mentioned that part…._

"Emma Bell, from this moment to until I say so, you are restricted from looking at your spell book!" Udonna stated, and my mouth hung open.

"You can't do that!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around. Udonna gave me a hard glare.

"Emma, I can, and I am," Udonna said, and I faltered slightly under the pressure of her voice, "The only reason you are still alive was because you were smart enough to call on your broom. Junky finally got you to root core, and tapped on the window of my room until I opened it. What would you have done without your broom?"

I was quiet while Udonna reprimanded me, knowing she was absolutely right, even though I didn't mean to. I just didn't think about being in the forest, after dark, lost, and depleted of energy. Thinking about it now, I realized how stupid it really was.

_Wow, I'm an idiot…_

"But then why couldn't I teleport through the trees?" I questioned Udonna, looking at her expectantly.

"Sometimes we don't focus hard enough on where we want to go, and so the forest just puts us somewhere else entirely. You're lucky you weren't teleported to another dimension,"

I nodded, and things were quiet for a moment before Udonna spoke up again.

"And Emma, I wasn't going to tell you this because I didn't think it was going to be an issue, but I really think you ought to know this," Udonna said after several minutes of silence.

"After Necrolai turned you into a vampire," Udonna started, beginning to sound more serious than angry with me, and I looked up in curiosity, "You're heart stopped, and eventually disappeared. That's what happens when a human is turned into a vampire."

I nodded to show that I was paying attention, and listened closely as Udonna went on.

"When you were turned back into a human, you needed a heart to live, obviously," Udonna started up again, "But when your heart grew back, it grew back as a child's heart, not an adult's. It will take a few years at the least for your heart to grow back into it's previous stage fully. But until then….. your heart is weak, and if you use a spell that requires too much energy, you will die, to be blunt,"

I gaped at Udonna, not quite sure what to say for a moment.

"You knew this crap and didn't tell me?" I asked her, frustration clear in my voice.

"I was under the impression that it wouldn't be a problem at first, but now I know it will be," Udonna stated calmly, and I simmered down a little, "So that means that you won't be able to use large scale spells now, but instead you'll have to fight with your daggers,"

"Udonna, I barely know how to fight with these!" I exclaimed, summoning my blades and holding them up for her to see, "There isn't a…. a spell, or something to grow a heart back?"

I looked at Udonna desperately as I summoned my daggers away.

"Actually…" Udonna stated, and my hope grew.

_Sweet! I'll just go grow my heart back and go right back to-_

"…..no. Surprisingly enough, there's not a spell to grow back a heart. You're the first human to have ever been turned into a vampire, and back,"

…_..Kicking….butt…._

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair out of nervous habit.

_I can barely contribute anything to the rangers WITH magic. How am I supposed to help them out WITHOUT it?..._

I pulled the covers of the bed off of me, slid out of bed, and immediately opened a drawer in the dresser that had some of my clothes in it.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Udonna questioned me, and I turned to face her.

"I'm going to work," I stated plainly, and Udonna nodded in understanding, and stood up to exit the room, closing the door after her.

I immediately slipped on my jeans, t-shirt, hoodie (or cloak in disguise), and chucks, and started toward the bathroom.

I fixed my hair in the mirror after taking a shower and drying it with a towel, then looked at where my heart was.

Curious, I poked it, only to find that it was sore to the touch.

_Oh Shit! What if it's critical? What does it mean if it's sore? I better go see Udonna!..._

Panicking, I raced into the main room of root core where Udonna was bent over the Xenotome.

"Udonna, why is it sore? Did I do something? What happened?" I questioned her as I came to a stop in front of her, and she gave me an incredulous look.

"Why is what sore?" She questioned, obviously confused. I rolled my eyes.

"My heart. Is. SORE. Udonna, don't even try to tell me that's normal," I stated, and Udonna sighed lightly.

"For you, Emma, it might be from now on," Udonna started, "Your heart is only sore because you overworked it last night. It's like after you work out that your muscles are sore. It's because your heart worked over time,"

"Oh," I said back in understanding, embarrassed that I made a big deal out of it, "Whoops… I'll just … get to work then,"

Udonna nodded, and smiled after me as I went out the door.

"Have a great day!" She called out after me, and I waved back.

"I feel like I'm going off to school, not work," I mumbled to myself as I walked through the forest, and teleported myself through one of the trees, making sure I concentrated really hard on where I was going.

I looked both ways before crossing the street to the 'Rock Porium', and quickly entered the shop, throwing on my work shirt over top of the one I already had on.

Inside the Porium, I immediately took up my post at the counter, and noticed that instead of Adrion sitting across from me now, Nick was back in his normal spot.

"Good morning. Have a nice sleep-in?" Nick questioned me, and I grinned.

"You bet," I stated, letting Nick think I had slept in.

_What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?..._

I looked around, only to find Madi, Xander, and Vida around the store, "Hey, where's Adrion and Chip?"

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the sound of someone yelling came from the stairs above Vida's DJ-ing platform.

We all turned our gaze towards there, even some of the customers, and I shook my head at what I saw.

"Avast, ye hardy!" Chip exclaimed, standing with one foot atop the railing, and swinging his 'sword' (toilet plunger) at someone below him on the DJ-ing platform, "I'll make ye walk the plank!"

"Avast!" The person on the platform retorted lamely, "Not unless I make ye walk the plank first, ye old sea-dog!"

"Arrrg!" Chip yelled, and jumped down from the stairs to the platform to face the other person, "I'll be getting' ye fer that!"

As Chip faced the other pirate, it threw them into a flurry of blocks and parries, and eventually, Chip managed to back the other person off of the platform, and towards the counter. I particularly noticed Madi taking all of this into account with her camera, and giggled.

Suddenly, someone's toilet plunger was poised at my neck from behind, the person wielding it standing behind me.

"Stop, Matey!" The other pirate declared to Chip, and I finally recognized the other pirate to be Adrion, "Or I'll slit the girl's throat!"

I heard some of the people watching them gasp in shock, and I just rolled my eyes and looked at Nick, who held up three fingers.

He put the first one down, like he was counting backwards for something.

_What is he…_

"Ye don't have the guts, ye land-lubber!" Chip declared, as I looked at Nick with confusion on my face.

He put a second finger down, and I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Ye want to bet on that, Captain Chip? Or shall I slit the girl's neck here and now?" Adrion retorted, and I gave Nick an incredulous look.

He finally put the last finger down, and tossed something over to me. On instinct, I caught it, and decided to use this to my advantage. I gently elbowed Adrion in the gut, not enough to hurt him, but enough for him to move his sword. I quickly ran and jumped onto the DJ-ing platform with my weapon, Nick at my side with his _own_ weapon. I quickly noted that Nick had taken the handle off of a broom and dubbed it a sword, while I got….

"A toilet scrubber?" I questioned my friend incredulously, as I turned to look at him, holding up my makeshift sword to the ranger.

"It was the only thing I could find!" He responded defensively, and I rolled my eyes, but turned back to Adrion and Chip, who were both now looking at us skeptically, while the crowd watched on in anticipation.

"Have ye two made a truce?" Chip questioned me, and I looked at Nick, and then back to Chip.

"Aye, that we have," I responded in my best pirate voice, and Nick attempted to smother his laughter.

"Fine!" I retorted defensively to him, turning to face him, "_You _do the pirate talking!"

"Well then, mate," Chip said, turning to Adrion, "If we be wanting to stay alive, we'd better make a truce too,"

Adrion nodded, and pretended to spit on his hand, as did Chip, and the shook on it.

I looked at Nick, who pretended to spit on his hand and held it out to me, so I shrugged, pretending to spit on my own hand, and quickly shook hands with Nick.

"Charge!" Chip declared, and Adrion and Chip both came running at us. I noticed offhandedly that a cheer erupted from the small crowd of customers watching us.

I quickly moved my sword to block one of Adrion's hits, and quickly returned the favor.

"Ow!" Adrion exclaimed as I gently hit him on the shoulder with my toilet plunger.

"Pirates don't say 'Ow'!" Chip called over to his ship-mate, as he was vigorously battling (and losing to) Nick.

Adrion swung his weapon at my feet, which I incredibly managed to jump over and land on, pinning his weapon down.

Adrion grinned, and managed to flip his weapon up, using it as a lever, and tipping me off of it.

I landed with an unattractive thump on the floor and a wince at my now sore butt, and moved my weapon just in time to block one of Adrion's blows.

Adrion swung his weapon down to hit me again, and I rolled out of the way this time. Adrion attempted to hit me again, but yet another time I rolled out of the way.

As I rolled, I swung my leg out, catching Adrion's with my own, and knocking him down too. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet, and pointed my toilet plunger at my best friend.

"Avast! I've beat ye!" I declared to Adrion, and looked over to see Nick standing triumphantly in front of Chip, pointing his sword to Chip's neck.

The 'crowd' I guess you could say, clapped, even though it consisted of the other three rangers, Toby, and three customers. I smiled down at my best friend, and helped him up.

"Not too shabby, Kitten," I told my friend, and he growled at me in embarrassment.

I smiled and ruffled his hair, then stepped down from the DJ-ing platform to resume my post.

Suddenly, someone jumped down from the platform after me, putting me in a headlock, and digging their knuckles into my scalp.

"Awww, that was great!" Nick exclaimed as he continued to torture me.

"Nick," I whined, trying to pry him off of me, "Get off, damn it! I _know _we make a good team! You don't need to tell me like THIS!"

Nick laughed and released me, and I immediately smoothed my hair down and glared at him.

_I ought to turn his shirt pink, just for good measure….._

I was about to speak the spell to do it, when I remembered Udonna telling me about my heart.

"Whatever," I finally settled on, and stuck my tongue out at him as I went to sit down at the counter.

Nick just laughed, and walked into Toby's office when our boss called for him, leaving me alone to think at my post…..


	42. Chapter 42

_Udonna mentioned that my heart being sore was because I had overworked it, and it was like working out. But when you work out, your muscles get sore when you're building them up! So maybe if I work my heart out somehow, it'll get stronger sooner!..._

Suddenly, I was ripped out of my thoughts as my iPod let out a beep, and Udonna's voice rang out through the speaker.

"Rangers! Necrolai is at the city plaza!"

I looked around the store at the rangers, who had their phones out, and knew that they'd gotten the message too.

Quickly, I ran out of the store in time with the rangers and we raced off to the plaza to stop Necrolai in whatever she was planning.

The rangers quickly morphed on the way, and I immediately summoned my cloak, along with Adrion, and flipped our hoods up.

We quickly came face to face with said oppressor in a matter of minutes, and the rangers got into their little formation, and Adrion stood next to me. But as I looked at Necrolai, something felt….. different about her somehow.

_Stop being a damn weirdo, it's probably just something to do with your heart that's slowly making you delusional…_

I quickly summoned my daggers, poised myself for action, and waited for Necrolai or the rangers to do something.

"I'm glad you could make it, rangers," Necrolai said haughtily, flipping her 'hair' over her shoulder, "And look, you brought company. Don't you silly rangers know the difference between good and bad company?"

I growled at Necrolai under my breath, opting whether or not to use the magic technique Logan taught me to just fry her ass right now, injured heart or not, but felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Adrion.

"Calm down, she's just trying to make you mad," Adrion said to me in a calming voice, and I nodded, then turned back around to face Necrolai.

"You're never gonna find the Gatekeeper, Necrolai," Vida spoke to the monster in front of us, pointing with a pink, gloved finger, "So give it up!"

"Oh, I have a new plan," Necrolai responded, putting a hand under her chin thoughtfully, "I'll let the Gatekeeper find me!"

Suddenly, long blades appeared on the top of Necrolai's forearms, and I finally realized what I was sensing earlier.

_She's…..Stronger now?…_

"Someone so noble would never stand by and watch while the power rangers were being destroyed!" Necrolai finished triumphantly, and I could tell that all the power rangers were extremely surprised, but not Adrion.

_Maybe he sensed it too…_

"Do you like my new powers?" Necrolai asked, as she walked back and forth in front of us.

"Like _this, _Necrolai_!"_ Nick shouted, pulling out his magi-staff and leaping towards Necrolai.

Necrolai didn't even wait for Nick to land on the ground, but instead shot some type of new magic at him in midair. With a cry, Nick tumbled to the ground.

I immediately rushed over to him, kneeling down next to him.

"Nick, you ok?" I quickly asked, and Nick coughed out something sounding like 'yeah'. I sighed in relief, and looked up towards Necrolai again.

Immediately, the other rangers reformed into their previous formation, and attacked Necrolai. I winced as I witnessed the rangers being shot with magic and getting thrown back into the ground in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, Nick stood up from his kneeling position next to me, and sprinted forward.

"Nick, wait!" I called to him, and ran after him towards Necrolai. Adrion soon followed me and him, and so began our fight with Necrolai.

Punches and blocks were sent back and forth, but I got most of the punches laid on me. Soon enough, though, the other rangers jumped back into the battle, and we began to wear Necrolai down slightly. I noticed, though, that the more we wore Necrolai down, the more tired we became, too.

_Duh, that's usually how battles work…._

I swung my daggers down towards Necrolai, and managed to clip her on the shoulder with my weapons. Instead of creating a cut or gash, though, sparks of magic flew and Necrolai let out a yelp of pain.

_That's what happens when the rangers get hit, too. It's because their outfits help protect them. Maybe Necrolai is just someone in an outfit, too…_

I didn't get to dwell on the thought though, and suddenly Necrolai let out a burst of magic that swept everybody off their feet and onto the ground _hard._

I gasped for breath, having had the wind knocked out of me upon contact with the ground, and found myself exhausted from fighting. As I looked to the rangers and Adrion, I saw them lying on the ground also, all struggling to get up… except for Nick, who was actually _standing._

"You're a fool if you think we're giving up!" Nick shouted, and ran towards Necrolai. Actually, it was more like a quick limping motion than an actual _run _since Nick had taken more hits than the rest of us, even _me_. The monster in front of us shot more magic at Nick while he ran, but amazingly enough, he managed to hit the magic away with his magi-staff.

I watched wide-eyed as Nick engaged Necrolai in battle again, but moments later, Nick was just as defeated as the rest of us and was flung onto the ground where he first started.

Everybody struggled to get up, and as I managed to prop myself up, I noticed that Nick was the only one not moving.

Immediately, I staggered to my feet and made my way over to kneel clumsily beside him.

"Nick," I said softly, as I put a hand on his shoulder and shook it lightly. I got no response.

"Nick," I said again, shaking his shoulder again. Suddenly, in a fizzle of magic, Nick was no longer in his ranger suit, but had morphed back into his original clothing. As I looked at his closed eyes and motionless body, I knew that he hadn't done it on purpose.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath, and leaned down close to Nick's ear.

"Nick," I said quietly, "I don't know if you can hear me, but stay with us, ok? We're gonna kick Necrolai's ass, then get you to root core. Just hang in there,"

I got no reaction from Nick (not like I expected one) and staggered back up to my feet to face Necrolai.

"You're beat, and no one has come to save you," Necrolai bragged, and I growled at her from under my hood, "Maybe there is no other gatekeeper,"

_Stupid bitch….first she's just gotta hurt my friends, and NOW she actually has the guts to tell me that Clare isn't really the GATEKEEPER?..._

Angrily, I charged towards Necrolai, and knew what she was about to do. I quickly pushed magic into my daggers, and as Necrolai shot magic at me while I ran at her, I hit the magic away with my own magic-infused blades like Nick had done.

I finally managed to get through the torrent of magic, and knew what I had to do.

"Albi Geru!" I chanted, and grey magic shot out of my hand at Necrolai, hitting her square in the chest. Instead of sending her flying back into the concrete roughly (like I wanted to), the magic instead froze her momentarily. Immediately grabbing hold of the opportunity, I swung my daggers down and managed to hit Necrolai harshly, but didn't get the opportunity to strike again.

Suddenly, Necrolai let out a large burst of magic, breaking her free of my spell, and in the same motion sending me cascading down to the hard concrete ground.

I rolled to ease my fall, and surprisingly enough didn't roll into the metal tables of the plaza on the way. When I finally managed to stop rolling and to look up, I saw Necrolai standing between the rangers and me.

I struggled to get back up and fight again, but suddenly a sharp pain ripped through my chest, and I fell back down to the ground with a whimper of pain.

_Shit, I overworked my heart again!..._

"Foolish rangers," Necrolai started, and walked towards the rangers as I looked up to watch helplessly, "Don't you know you can never defeat me?"

Necrolai pulled her arm back to shoot magic at the rangers, sending me into panic mode. Finding new strength for a moment in my new fear, I managed to chuck one of my daggers at Necrolai, and my arm fell back to the ground again, adrenaline gone.

A sharp pain went through my chest again, and I squeezed my eyes shut in pain. I heard the familiar sound of metal on metal, and knew that Necrolai had blocked my dagger. I mean, what else would I expect? She had new freaking powers!

"I had almost forgotten about you," Necrolai said to me, "Better to get rid of a bigger threat before the smaller one,"

Necrolai's footsteps drew nearer to me, but I still didn't look up. The sharp pain in my chest came and went along with my heart beat, putting me in momentary pain every other second.

_So this is it. I'm about to get murdered by Necrolai. I never got married or had kids, and I never got to kick Koragg's ass. I swear, if I get out of this, I'm going to train like no other, injured heart or not….._

Suddenly, the familiar sound of magic whipping through the air reached my ears, and I braced myself for the pain. Only, no magic hit me. Or anywhere around me. Not even on the rangers. As I managed to lift my head, I saw Claire, standing there in all her gatekeeper glory with her hand outstretched. It was then that I had fully realized what happened.

_Holy shit, Claire just hit Necrolai! …._

"What?" Necrolai exclaimed, and Claire came forward to stand with confidence in front of Necrolai.

"There _is _a gatekeeper, Necrolai," Claire began, "My mother's spirit lives inside me!"

"Clare!" I heard the rangers exclaim, and found myself saying the same name in relief.

Clare then lifted something she held in her hand, and put it on her head. I couldn't quite make out what it was, but came to the conclusion that it was some type of crown.

In a flash of light that I had become so accustomed to, Clare was now standing in a new outfit, and looking much older and mature then the Clare I knew.

"Power of the shining moon- behold, the Gatekeeper!" Clare declared.

"Incredible," I heard Chip mumble, and would've nodded my head in agreement if I hadn't found the task so strenuous at the time.

"The oracle was right!" Necrolai exclaimed, "So there is another. And my plan to draw you out has worked perfectly!"

"You're going to regret ever meeting me, witch," Clare said, and suddenly ( and in another flash of light), Clare held a staff in her hands.

Necrolai let out a shrill screech, and sent magic flying towards Clare. I flinched upon instinct after getting hit with Necrolai's magic so many times, and thinking that this hit was directed towards me.

Clare held out her staff and created a shield around her, and I watched in wonder as Necrolai's blows bounced off harmlessly.

Next, it was Clare's turn to kick Necrolai's butt, and as she held her staff our again, engulfed Necrolai in some type of magic that I had never seen before.

When Clare let Necrolai go from her grip of magic, Necrolai fell to her knees.

"My new powers," Necrolai exclaimed in horror, "They're gone!"

"Let's give Clare a hand, rangers!" Xander exclaimed, and the rangers and Adrion hauled themselves off the ground with effort, and into their formation (with Xander at the front in Nick's former place, and Adrion in Xander's). With Necrolai's new powers gone, I was positive that the rangers could handle this.

But as another sharp pain went through my chest, I wasn't sure that _I _could handle _anything _at the moment…..


	43. Chapter 43

I heard footsteps shuffle over to me, and the ranger's footsteps padded across the ground in their battle with Necrolai, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Emma, are you ok?" Clare's voice, young and naïve, came to my ears.

"Yeah," I managed, trying to sound like I wasn't in pain. Clare gently grabbed my arm, and helped me into a standing position so I could use one of the tables for support.

"I'm fine Clare," I told the sorceress with a small smile to go along with my lie, "But you should go help Nick,"

Clare nodded, and dashed over to Nick, who was still lying on the ground. Using the tables and walls as my supports, I slowly made my way over to them.

Carefully and slowly, Clare rolled Nick onto his back as I knelt beside him, panic stricken.

_Holy shit, what do I do? How do I find out what's wrong with Nick? How do I fix it? How are we getting him back to root core? Oh! Udonna will know what to do! We just need to get to root core and to Udonna, and Nick will be fine!..._

"Clare, we need to get Nick to root core," I spoke to the sorceress, but Clare gave me a hesitant look.

"Clare, we need to get Nick to Udonna," I stated, and Clare opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the rangers.

"Great job, Clare!"

"Alright!"

"Way to go!"

"Udonna's been captured,"

I stared at the sorceress open mouthed while her words sank in.

_Holy…. Shitcakes…._

Silence engulfed the group before I spoke up.

"Ok. Udonna's been captured, and we need a plan to get her back," I started, looking around at each of the conscious rangers, then to Clare, "But before we attempt to get her back, we need to get Nick some help, and regroup at root core. Sound good to everyone?"

The rangers nodded their heads, and I looked over to a sullen Clare. I sighed and reached over to pat her arm comfortingly.

"Clare, if I could just barge through the Underworld's doors to get Udonna back, I would kick Koragg's ass a million times," I tried to comfort my friend, and saw a small smile lift onto her face, "But we all need to be strong, and we need a plan. We can't just barge in there,"

Clare nodded at me and smiled a little more.

"Then let's get to root core!" Clare exclaimed, and I smiled back up at her.

"I got Nick," Xander said, and Chip immediately came over to gently move the ranger to Xander's flying jet ski.

"Come on Clare," Vida called with a smile, "You can ride with me!"

With a smile Clare ran over to Vida, and everybody respectively went to their own vehicles.

I hauled myself off the ground with much effort, and wobbled a little as I stood. Suddenly, a hand on my shoulder steadied me, and I turned to see Adrion grinning at me.

"C'mon, Cricket," Adrion started, and let out a whistle. Suddenly, Junky whizzed over to us, and I gaped at my best friend, "Let's get you to root core,"

Adrion climbed onto my broom, and I immediately slid onto the back of it, happy to be off my feet, but not exactly happy with my best friend.

As we flew through the air with the other rangers towards root core, I tapped Adrion on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" He called back without looking, as he flew _my _broom towards root core.

"How did you manage to hijack my damn broom?" I questioned him quizzically, and he just laughed at me.

"Junky just likes me, I didn't do anything," Was the lame excuse Adrion returned with, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever," I mumbled, and fell back into silence.

The pain in my heart was still where it had been earlier, but now the pain had numbed my chest so much, it was easier to ignore. Never the less, it was still there, and it still hurt. I suspected that maybe the thought of losing Nick was what was hurting, too.

I rested my forehead against Adrion's back, and squeezed my eyes closed tightly in an attempt to make the pain go away. Naturally, it didn't work, but it was just something to keep me occupied and my mind off the pain pounding around in my chest.

Soon, we finally reached root core, and I quickly mounted off Junky and walked inside. Footsteps were heard behind me as Chip and Xander hauled Nick inside, and Clare, Adrion, Vida and Madi followed.

As Chip and Xander lay Nick in the room I had currently been in the night before, I shuffled around root core looking for some type of magic spell health book thingy.

"Clare, do you know where Udonna keeps the health books?" I questioned the sorceress without looking up from my search, and Clare's footsteps were heard as she walked over to a book shelf.

"There's a lot of them over here!" She called to me, and I immediately made my way over to her, and began to sort through them, but ended up bundling them all up in my arms and taking it to Nick's room.

I promptly sat them down on the table, and flipped to the table of contents on the first one.

Chapter 1- Vanity

_Not the one I'm looking for…._

Chapter 2- Mental Health

_Nope….._

Chapter 3– Sex Ed. For the Young Witch or Wizard

_EEEEEWWWW! NO!_

Chapter 4- Physical Health

_Finally! The right chapter!_

I quickly flipped to chapter four, and skimmed the pages, and finally found the right spell.

**The search spell**- This spell will help those in battle who are trying to help a fallen colleague by finding out what's wrong with them. From broken bones to brain damage, this spell will be all you need. Unfortunately, the only way to carry out this spell is through mouth-to-mouth contact, since the easiest way to see if something's wrong is through the brain. Therefore, as you say the spell in your head, the magic will carry through your mouth and into your colleague's, and finally leading up to the brain, then back into your own mouth and brain.

**Incantation**- tori ye goy

**Warning- **This spell CAN be administered without mouth-to-mouth contact, but it requires a 5 star magic level.

I stared at the book in my hands disbelievingly, debating with myself what I was going to do.

_**No Way.**_

_But this might be the only way to save Nick!_

_**What? By SUCKING FACE?**_

_No! Through mouth-to-mouth contact, dumbass! It never said to kiss! I bet it would work if you just…. Touched lips?_

_**That's considered kissing, too, smart one.**_

_Yeah, but not SUCKING FACE. C'mon! no one's even in the room! You know that Nick would do this for us! And the sooner we find out what's wrong with him, the sooner we heal him. The sooner we heal him….._

_**The sooner we get to kick Koragg's ass for stealing Udonna…..ugh. Whatever. But if something goes wrong, it's YOUR fault…**_

I looked down at the spell again, and repeated it in my head several times for practice.

_Quit stalling and COME ON! _

I let out a nervous sigh, and leaned over top of Nick, taking the time to look at him for a moment. His breathing was slow and deep, like he was sleeping, and his hair was messed up from the battle. Forgetting my own pain in my heart that I had yet to treat, I subconsciously reached up and flicked a leaf from Nick's hair, then smoothed it down a bit. After realizing this, I quickly jerked my hand away with a blush.

_Alright Emma! Focus. Tori ye goy, Tori ye goy…._

Deciding not to waste another second, I quickly brought my lips down to meet Nick's, but stopped centimeters away, hesitating. All I could feel was Nick's slow breath on my own lips, and I almost forgot what I was hovering centimeters away from Nick's face for.

I immediately brought my lips to meet Nick's, reciting the incantation in my head. I could literally feel the magic rush out of my mouth and through Nick's lips, then rustle around through Nick's brain to find out what was wrong with him.

As the magic moved around through Nick's brain, I attempted to focus on anything that would lead to Nick's injury, but found it hard to focus on searching. His soft lips on mine seemed to be fogging my brain quite a bit.

Finally, I found what had happened. Apparently Nick had used all of his magic, and his powers immediately switched over to an emergency outlet of magic. Since almost all of that magic had been used, and Nick already had so little energy left _without _magic, he had passed out. Now, I just had to let him rest.

_Duh, I know that part…._

Other injuries were few, and mostly just bruises where Necrolai had hit so hard with her powers that Nick's suit couldn't protect him completely. But one bruise seemed to go deep enough on his shoulder and had actually bruised the _bone._

As the magic returned to my own brain, and I removed my lips from Nick's warm ones, almost happy to be out of that situation, but not quite.

Quickly, I placed a pillow behind Nick's head, and brought a blanket to lie over top of him. Before finally leaving the room, I gently placed my hand on his bruised-to-the-bone shoulder.

"Cura," I said softly, and grey magic appeared at my fingertips and sank into Nick's skin. I pulled my hand away, and gathered the health books scattered around the room, and quietly exited the room.

"What happened?"

"Is he ok?"

"Is anything broken?"

"Is it lethal, doc?"

"He's not dead, is he?"

"Guys, everything's fine!" I told them, as I went over to the book shelf to put the books back in their places. I turned to face them, and leant against the book shelf for support, now feeling dizzy from standing up to long on a pained heart, and using extra magic to heal Nick.

"He just needs to rest, alright?" I told them, and everybody's faces filled with relief.

"So…what's the plan?" Madi spoke up, hesitantly.

"We'll wait 'till Nick wakes up, then make a plan. Until then, everybody rest. Sound good?" I replied, and everybody nodded, then dispersed slowly to various places around root core.

"Cricket, you ok?" Adrion asked me softly, like he didn't want the others to hear.

I smiled at my best friend.

"Yeah, I'm ok," I responded, not actually sure if what I said was true or not, "I'm just a little tired is all,"

Adrion's face filled with disbelief, but he nodded and walked away, opting to leave me alone.

I sighed, and made my way towards Nick's room again, deciding to check on him one more time. As I entered the room, I found Nick in the same state as I had left him in, but without a giant bruise on his shoulder.

I let myself down in a giant armchair next to his bed, and made myself comfortable by sitting in it sideways like it was a sofa, my legs dangling off the edge. Leaning my head back against the arm of the chair, I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain now coming and going along with my heart beat.

Slowly but surely, I fell asleep…..


	44. Chapter 44

Somebody shook my shoulder gently.

"Emma," A familiar voice called, though I couldn't place who it was.

I pried my eyes open, and was immediately met by two bright eyes that nearly scared the _shit _out of me from being so close.

Switching into survival mode, I didn't let my fear show, and leaned up to learn that it was only Nick.

"Oh, you're alive," I stated with a smile, felling extremely relieved, and yawned.

"I should be telling you that," Nick retorted, his once playful eyes gaining some concern, "You've been sleeping for the past hour and no one could wake you up. We thought you were dead or something,"

I laughed at the notion.

"Please. If I can take a stab from Koragg's sword, _sleep _won't be the one to take me down," I joked, and gave Nick a crooked smile, but it soon faded as I saw the concerned, serious look on Nick's face.

"Everybody else said Necrolai almost killed you," Nick stated, and I let out a sigh and looked away, "Emma, you gotta be more careful than that,"

"What was I supposed to do?" I asked him, "Just lay there and watch Necrolai murder everyone? I had to do _something_, and it's not like it was _my_ choice to almost die,"

Things were quiet for a moment before Nick sighed in defeat.

"Alright," He said softly, and looked up to smile at me, "Just….try to be more careful, ok?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes playfully.

"Yes, mother," I stated, and stood to exit the room. Suddenly, the room began to spin, and I felt myself sway a little. As suddenly as it began though, it stopped when a hand was placed on my arm to steady me.

"Speaking of being careful," Nick started, concern in his voice, "It looks like you took more damage than we thought,"

_Pssch, YEAH. More than you know…_

"I'm fine," I stated, not meeting Nick's intense gaze, "I just gotta….. walk it off,"

I gently took my arm from Nick's grasp, and began to walk towards the main room of root core shakily.

Turning, I was about to ask Nick if he was coming too, but suddenly a sharp pain went through my head.

I immediately put a hand to my head and squeezed my eyes shut as the pain increased, and soon, I heard a voice.

"Hear me, red ranger. Hear me, Storm. You will tell the gatekeeper to battle me alone. If she does not come, your sorceress will perish!"

As the pain slowly began to fade away, I noticed off-handedly that the pain was worse than the other times Koragg had broken into my mind.

_I'll have to ask Udonna about that later…_

As I slowly opened my eyes and took my hands from my head, I saw Nick doing the same and caught his eye.

"You heard him too?" Nick asked in surprise, pain lacing his voice. I nodded back.

"What do we do about this?" I asked Nick quickly, hoping to distract him from the fact I could hear Koragg, too.

Nick seemed to think about it for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

"Let's ask the others," He replied, and I nodded my agreement. Quickly, we entered the main room of root core.

Everybody opened their mouths to speak, but Nick didn't give them the chance, and began to talk first.

"Koragg wants to fight Clare," He started, looking directly at Clare," ….. alone,"

Clare's nose went up indignantly.

"I accept," She replied with confidence.

"Whoa, hold it," Madi spoke up, stepping forwards, "We can't just throw Clare out there!"

"She's right," Xander spoke up, "We need a plan first. If something happens to Clare, we lose her _and _Udonna,"

Everything was quiet for a moment while we thought.

"Any ideas?" Chip asked, and we all looked at him blankly, "Feel free to just….throw it out there,"

_I think that if we DID have an idea, Chip, it WOULD be thrown out there…. Thrown out there…. Wait, that's it!..._

"That's it!" I blurted out, and suddenly all eyes were on me, "I've got a plan, guys….."

...

"Alright?" I questioned everyone, looking around, and everyone nodded back to me, "Great. Let's go!"

Everyone quickly dispersed, and I sent a quick smile and thumbs up towards Clare, who smiled nervously back. Once we were out of root core, Clare began walking to her destination, and everyone else summoned their flying vehicles.

I quickly let out a shrill whistle, and Junky whizzed around to my side. Adrion quickly jogged over, and I let him in the driver's seat.

Looking around to see everyone on their vehicles, I nodded to Adrion, who quickly set off in the lead.

We quickly flew through the forest, twisting around trees, and every few moments I would twist around to see if everyone was keeping up.

After a couple more minutes of flying, Adrion finally landed us on the ground, and everyone else followed suite, putting their jet skis away in a flash of magic.

"Hide, but be ready to come get us I case of an emergency, ok?" I told Junky, as his bristles stiffened and he quickly jabbed me in the stomach with his handle, then flew away quickly.

"I think that means, 'Be careful.'," Chip said to me, and I just rolled my eyes at my broom, then turned to Adrion.

"So, where do we get in?" I questioned him, as he began to search around on the ground for something.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, pulling up a hidden trap door.

Madi stepped forwards, looking nervously down into the darkness below.

"_That's _the entrance to the Underworld?" Xander asked quizzically, looking at Adrion.

"One of many," The kitty-boy replied, "This one hasn't been used for a long time, which is why I chose it. Let's go,"

Adrion lowered himself down first, then Vida went after, then Chip, then Madi, Xander, Nick, and me.

Just _being _in the Underworld brought memories flooding back to me, and I giggled to myself as I reminisced on 'meeting' Adrion for the first time.

"I can't see anything!" Nick exclaimed in a whisper from in front of me.

"Hold onto the person in front of you, ok?" Adrion whispered back to everyone, "I'll lead because I know the place,"

Even in the darkness I could tell by the rustling of clothing that everyone had moved to grab onto the person in front of them in some way. I quickly grabbed hold of Nick's shirt as we began moving in a line. I felt like I was in a kindergarten class moving across the crosswalk holding onto one of those little ropes.

We twisted and turned through the tunnels, and eventually, we came to the top of steps.

"This is gonna be hard," I heard Adrion murmur to himself, "Nobody happens to have a light, do they?"

Suddenly, another memory rushed back to me. Logan was training me with the elves on how to throw elements. If I could _throw a storm_, why couldn't I hold light?

Quickly, I took my hand off Nick's shirt and closed my eyes. I thought of the sun, in all its bright glory, and focused a small amount of magic onto my palm.

I snapped my eyes open as a small ball of light appeared in my hand and illuminated the steps and tunnel.

"How'd you do that?" Nick asked me, looking at the ball of light in my hand. I grinned.

"It's a secret of the Underworld," I replied, and looked to Madi.

"Mads, could you do the spell that Udonna always does to me? You know, the one where she traps me in a little globe?" I asked her, "But focus on the ball of light, _not _me,"

Madi nodded and looked intensely at the ball of light.

"Usha moy pendo," She chanted softly, and the ball of light was trapped in the globe. I grinned at Madi.

"Great job, Mads," I told her in a whisper, and handed the ball of light to Adrion, "Lead the way,"


	45. Chapter 45

We slowly made our way down the steps, using the wall for a railing. The steps seemed to go on and on forever, until we finally made our way to the bottom of them.

We came out in a strangely familiar hallway lined with torches, and we quickly huddled into a small group.

"Alright, Emma," Adrion stated, taking his cloak off, "Switch cloaks with me. I don't want Necrolai to fly into the arena and recognize you by your cloak. Black blends in here,"

I nodded and took my cloak off, handing it to Adrion, then quickly pulled his cloak onto me.

"I remember where the arena is," I started, fastening the cloak around my neck securely, "I'll make a distraction for as long as I can. If push comes to shove and we gotta get out, I'll call your morphers, or you can call me, alright? If we're successful, call me when you have Udonna, and I'll meet you at the surface. Got it?"

Everyone nodded to me, and I grinned.

"Let's get this jail break going then," I stated, and flipped my (well, actually, Adrion's) hood up, and grinned. I quickly set off down the hall towards the arena, and listened to my friend's fading footsteps, then the eerie silence.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulder, and I whirled around to face them while simultaneously summoning my daggers. In an instant, my dagger was at their throat, and I gave them a cold glare…until I realized who it was.

With a growl, I lowered my weapon, and summoned it away.

"What are you doing?" I questioned Nick, who was still staring at me.

"I'm going with you," He responded firmly, giving me a steel gaze.

The way he said it indicated that he had no intention of turning back around. Realizing this, I let out a sigh.

"Whatever," I mumbled in defeat, "Come on,"

We passed by the same, large wooden doors that were here as my first visit. Suddenly, a thought came to me, and I ceased walking to look at Nick.

"You realize that everybody is going to know that you're a good guy, right?" I questioned him, taking my hood down to look him in the eyes and gesturing to his uniform, "Unless…"

Nick looked up to me and gave me a wary glance as I grinned evilly.

"Studa ferga rah," I chanted quietly, pointing to Nick's uniform. The brown on his vest changed to black, along with his cloak, pants, and shoes, then his shirt to grey. Grinning even wider, I chanted the spell again to change his eyes red, too.

"There," I said, satisfied with my work, "_Now _you look evil. And if anyone asks, you're a vampire,"

I began to walk away, but suddenly Nick spun me around by my shoulder, and grinned.

"You were a vampire down here the first time," Nick retorted, "So everyone knows you as a vampire. Looks like I'm not the only one to get a makeover…"

Before I could say anything, Nick chanted the spell, and my skin was turned a ghostly white (well, _more pale_), and my eyes red.

I growled at him and flipped my hood up.

"Alright," I said in defeat, then began to make my way into the arena, "Just….. stay in the background, ok?"

Nick nodded as we entered the large room, and the sound of clashing metal reached my ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nick peel off and lean nonchalantly against the wall. I quickly made my way into the middle of the large room, looking for someone in particular to pick a fight with.

Another memory came back to me, and I remembered the fight with mister dog-breath. Grinning, I searched the crowds for him, figuring if he saw me again, there would have to be _some_ type of drama. I looked around, but I couldn't find him anywhere.

_Well then….. I'll just have to let him find me…._

I smirked as I took my hood down, and shook my hair out. Some of the monsters around me stopped their training to stare at me, and I glared at them as coldly as I could. Fumbling, they returned to whatever they were doing before, and I grinned to myself.

_Now, where's-_

"Emma, is that you?"

I quickly looked around to see who had said that, and almost immediately heard another voice.

"EMMA!"

Suddenly, something furry tackled me to the ground, and I let out a surprised shriek.

Two pairs of footsteps raced towards me, and I struggled under the weight of whatever furry thing was on top of me.

"Emma, Emma, Emma, I missed you so MUCH! You won't BELIEVE how lonely it is down here for a monster like me! I was nearly DROWNING in self-pity before you got here! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" The furry mass of love continued, and finally stood up and held me at arms-length. I gasped as I saw who it was that was attacking me with hugs.

"Torrid!" I exclaimed with what felt like the largest, genuine smile on my face. I tackled the furry, adorable monster in a hug (even though my arms only went about halfway around him), " It's so great to see you!"

I pulled myself from him, and out of the corner of my eye, noticed Nick standing close by next to another creature I recognized.

"Logan!" I exclaimed, and ran to hug the elf.

"Em! Where ya been?" He asked with a smile, as he returned my hug and picked me up as he spun me around in a circle.

"I've been on that power ranger assignment for the past, what, couple weeks?" I told him, already having my story planned out, and he scoffed as he let me go.

"More like a couple months," Logan said, then motioned to Nick who was standing beside him, "Who's he?"

I gave Nick a sideways glare as I quickly searched for an answer.

_I told you to stay in the BACKGROUND!..._

"Uh…. M-my boyfriend!" I fumbled with my words, trying to make up a good lie, looking towards Nick to help back up my story.

Nick grinned mischievously, and slipped his arm around my waist. I did likewise with a small blush stretching across my face.

_Ok Emma, focus. You're here to create a diversion, not …. Stand this close….to Nick…._

My thoughts just made my blush deepen.

"Met her up on the surface," Nick explained further, mischievous smile still on his face, "Love at first bite. You know how it is,"

Logan nodded in understanding as a smile stretched across his elven face, then turned to me again.

"So, how'd-" Logan started, but suddenly a booming voice was heard throughout the arena.

"Well, well, well, looks who's back," The familiar voice taunted, as I turned towards it, "The little vampire,"

I grinned in a somewhat sadistic way at the dog creature.

_Just who I was looking for…_

"You mean the little vampire who kicked your ass? Yeah, she's back," I retorted to the monster, who growled lowly at me.

"I demand a re-match!" He thundered, pulling out his scepter and pointing it at me.

In a quick movement, Nick moved me behind him and glared at the dog creature thing.

"Oh, look! The little vampire brat has a boyfriend! How sweet," The monster retorted, and some of the crowd around us (that had cleared out to make a circle upon instinct) laughed.

I quickly stepped around Nick again, and faced the monster once more.

"Please! The only girl who ever liked _you _was your _**mother**_," I replied, and smirked as a chorus of 'oooh!'s, 'burn!'s, and spurts of laughter came from the circle formed around us.

"That does it!" The monster declared, baring his scepter once again, "I demand a fight right now!"

I grinned at the monster.

"I accept," I said calmly, and went to meet the monster in the center of the circle, but was stopped suddenly by a hand on my wrist. I turned around to face Nick.

"Just….. be careful, ok?" He told me, eyes shifting in worry. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Logan and Torrid were watching us closely.

_I gotta make this believable…._

"I got it, babe, don't worry," I replied with a crooked smile, and slightly nodded my head towards Logan and Torrid when Nick gave me a confused (and somewhat freaked out)look. Nick looked back at me in understanding, and a sly grin slid onto his face.

_Oh shit….._

Suddenly, Nick quickly laced his fingers with mine, and slipped his other hand behind my neck, pulling me forward as his lips crashed onto mine. Surprised, I didn't kiss back, and the kiss lasted for seconds. Nick pulled away and grinned widely at me, then spun me around and pushed me towards the center of the circle. Hoots and hollers (as well as whistles) came from the crowd, and I growled under my breath.

_Ugh, I'm gonna kill him later! But for right now, I gotta focus…._

I faced the monster in front of me with a crooked grin, and flipped my hood up.

_Time for a distraction….._

_..._

_**OH MYLANTA GUYS I AM SO SORRY!**_ TTTTTTTTTToTTTTTTTTTT I HAVEN'T updated in five days! I'm really sorry! TTTTT^TTTTT Easter has just been really hectic, ya know? I had a bunch of family over, I was really busy with church, and surprisingly enough I was busy hanging out with friends too... which is really weird because I only have two friends... 0_0...any way, IM SO SORRY! TTTTTTT_TTTTTTT Please forgive me! ... Oh yeah, and happy late easter. T-T and sorry again for amking you suffer five long days... TTTT_TTTT


	46. Chapter 46

Logan came out onto the floor, and gave me a comforting smile.

"On the count of three," Logan said, "One, two-"

Suddenly, the dog creature swung his scepter down towards me before Logan even said 'three'. I immediately jumped back, missing the attack by mere inches.

I jumped forward as abruptly as I jumped back, and landed on the monster's scepter, pinning the weapon to the ground. Pushing magic into my fist, I swung my hand around to deal a blow directly across the monster's face. I jumped, and pushed myself off the monster's staff by kicking him in the chest and propelling myself backwards. I landed neatly on my feet as a bruise began to form on the monster's face.

"You'll pay for that!" He exclaimed, and slammed his scepter on the ground. A bright blaze of fire traveled across the ground towards me, and my hands went up upon instinct.

"Sheildo Rebuta!" I chanted, and suddenly the fire reversed its blazing path and hit the dog monster, sending him flying across the floor.

I noticed offhandedly that the circle got bigger as the creatures in the crowd gave us more space to fight.

_I can't just KILL him like this. I have to drag this distraction on longer than this…._

With a howl, the monster got up from the floor, and looked at me with penetrating eyes.

_Yep, he's DEFINITELY out for blood now…_

The monster charged at me with such a loud, ferocious roar, the walls of the arena shook. I quickly summoned my daggers, and brought them up in barely enough time to meet the creature's scepter. The impact of the blow on my daggers made my knees buckle and arms bend. I quickly pushed magic into my arms to hold the creature's attack at bay, but wasn't ready when he swiftly sent a kick to my stomach.

I gasped for breath as I rolled across the floor, having the wind knocked out of me from the kick, then what air I had regained knocked out of me as I hit the ground.

As I struggled to get back up, pounding footsteps approached me, and I looked up just in time to see a magic scepter crash towards me.

I rolled away immediately, then rolled again as the creature brought his weapon down a second time. I brought my daggers up the third time to block the creature's attack, and pushed magic into my legs, kicking the monster and sending him flying back across the circle.

I staggered to my feet, and faced the creature as it struggled on the ground.

_C'mon guys, get Udonna and let's GO…._

A beeping suddenly came from my iPod, and I grinned. I didn't have to know if they had gotten Udonna out or if they had been compromised. Either way, we were meeting them on the surface, and it was time to get out of here.

I nodded at Nick as I caught his eye, and he nodded back.

_He must've gotten a call, too…._

I turned forward again, and grinned evilly in what I was about to do.

I closed my eyes, and focused. I ignored the footsteps pounding towards me, the call of the crowd that had gathered, and my own feeling of fear. I focused magic into my palm, and snapped my eyes open.

I chucked the volley-ball sized ball of magic at the monster coming towards me, and an explosion of black filled the room. The torches on the walls were wiped out by the magic, and what little light was left was blotted out by the darkness filling the room entirely.

Shouts of confusion and surprise, as well as cheers echoed throughout the room, and I quickly sprinted away to where I saw Nick before everything became completely black. Scouring through the pitch black crowds of monsters and creatures, I called Nick.

"Nick!" I shouted above the voices of the monsters, feeling around desperately for the ranger," Nick, where are you?"

"Right here," Came the reply that was dangerously close to my ear, as Nick grabbed my hand, and we sprinted through the crowd and out of the arena. We continued down the hallway and up the flight of steps, and finally stopped for a moment at the top of them before continuing. I panted heavily as I bent over and put my hands on my knees.

"C'mon," I said to Nick, not knowing where he was in the pitch black of the room. I found his hand, and began making my way towards the exit of the Underworld.

_Damn, that blackout took a lot outta me. Probably more than I can handle right now. I'm only running on adrenaline right now, so we gotta get out of the Underworld FAST…._

After running through more winding tunnels, I saw a sliver of light ahead. Sprinting faster now that I knew we were almost out, we reached it in record time.

Nick pushed on the door roughly, but it still wouldn't budge. Trying again, it still did no good.

"Let me try," I told him, and pushed magic into my arms to get it to budge. Nick began to push with me, and suddenly, the door flung open and sunlight streamed through. Nick pulled himself through first, and helped me up after him. Quickly, I shut the door, and lay back onto the ground relieved, exhausted, beaten, and about ready to die.

After a few moments of nothing but our heavy breathing being heard, Nick's had calmed a little, but mine hadn't.

"What…..what was that?" Nick asked me from his stretched out position next to me, and I groaned in frustration.

"Me…..being….. an idiot," I replied with my eyes closed, breathing heavily between words, "Something…..Logan taught me….about elements…..Used darkness…to get us…outta there….Used too much magic…I'm an idiot,"

My heart began to throb, and if I hadn't been in so much pain, I think I might've cried.

_Of course it hurts, Emma! You almost got yourself killed by Necrolai, snuck into the Underworld, picked a fight with a monster, and expected to win easy-peasy because you defeated him when you were a VAMPIRE? All in one day! C'mon!..._

"Em, you ok?" Nick's voice reached my ears through my thoughts, and I pried my eyes open to meet Nick's bright ones hovering over me. My breathing had finally calmed, and I managed to talk in a full sentence.

"Yeah, I'm good," I replied with a strained voice, and propped myself, "We better go see if Clare is ok,"

I wobbled to my feet, and felt a hand on my arm help steady me. Nick smiled down at me, like he knew something I didn't and summoned his flying jet-ski. I let out a whistle for Junky, then when he didn't come I realized with frustration that Adrion must've taken my broom. AGAIN.

Nick hopped onto his vehicle, and I slid on after him, holding onto Nick tightly.

"Where's Junky?" Nick questioned me, turning around partially. I glared at him, for he already knew the answer.

"Adrion stole him again," I replied with mock bitterness in my voice, and looked down at the ground we were hovering off of, "Is this thing safe?"

Nick grinned at me and turned around.

"No safer than your broom," He said, before setting off quickly. Along the way, Nick called the rangers on their morphers to tell them we were going to check on Clare and to meet us there.

I let out a small groan as we zipped over the forest, and buried my face in Nick's back in hopes to take my mind off the pain bounding around in my chest and stomach.

_Ok. Let's just try to hold on until we find out what happened to Clare. If she defeated Koragg, then great. I'll ask Udonna to look at my heart if the others got her out of there. If Clare didn't defeat him…we're gonna have to go get her back. So I'll just try to save my strength….._

The ride to Clare seemed so short, and when I looked up, I visibly paled.

"Nick, hurry!" I told the ranger as I saw that Clare was totally gonna get killed by Koragg!

"Hold on!" Nick told me as we swooped down on his jet-ski, and a throbbing pain started pulsating through my shoulder, and I tried to block the pain out.

_Just suck it up, Emma! Help Clare, then you can hurt as much as you want…._

As Nick began to get closer to the ground and we neared Koragg, I saw the dark knight raise his sword to strike Clare.

I quickly leapt off the jet ski, and crashed into Koragg as his sword began to move downwards. Luckily, instead of crashing into Koragg's sword, I crashed into his armor with my shoulder and we tumbled across the ground.

Koragg grunted in frustration as he resumed a standing position, and I forced myself to stand with great effort. The throbbing in my heart continued at the same pace, but my shoulder had deepened in it's pain.

_Ugh, why does it only hurt when I'm around Koragg?..._

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't see Koragg rushing at me, sword raised, and barely had enough time to raise my own weapon. I saw Nick alight from his vehicle out of the corner of my eye, and make his way over to Necrolai and Clare.

Koragg struck at me again, and I managed to dodge the blow, then put some distance between him and I by leaping back several feet. Koragg seemed to be staring at me fixatedly.

"Have I met you, warrior?" He questioned me, as we held our weapons ready to attack or defend. I realized now that with my hood up, he couldn't see my eyes, and therefor didn't recognize me.

Without answering, I quickly lashed out with my daggers, but Koragg's sword blocked it almost too easily.

"You're very familiar," He continued lowly, almost as if he was speaking to himself, and flung my daggers away quickly with his sword and kicked me in the stomach to send my flying back across the ground.

I attempted to stand up quickly, but found that the earlier kick from dog-breath now hurt MORE because Koragg had added to the pain, and that the strain on my heart was now becoming slightly worse. I snapped my head up to see Koragg approaching my slowly, just like the first time I had fought him alone.

I set my jaw in grim anticipation.

_Like hell if I'm gonna let Koragg take ME down!_

I quickly summoned my daggers back to me, and blocked one of Koragg's mighty blows. I slashed at him with my daggers, which he narrowly avoided, then I lashed out at him again and again. Suddenly, our weapons locked, and I could feel Koragg actually faltering slightly. I pushed harder on my weapons, but Koragg pushed back, the force sliding us several feet away from each other.

My breathing was now ragged and coming in short gasps, but my attention was attracted elsewhere when I heard Necrolai yell.

"By the power of the gatekeeper, let the gates rise up!" She exclaimed, and I looked over quickly to see her holding Clare hostage. Suddenly, the crystal on Clare's headband began to glow, and suddenly emitted a stream of light that shot into the sky.

Dark clouds suddenly rolled in, and thunder crashed above us. Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and as I looked over the tops of the city's buildings, I could see the gate rising up….


	47. Chapter 47

I looked in horror at the gate coming up from the ground, but was distracted for a moment from the gate by a sudden thought that popped into my head.

_Wait, where's Nick?..._

I didn't get the chance to panic as my attention was brought back to Koragg as he spoke to me.

"Now I will finish you off, warrior, so that the surface world can witness the power of the master!" Koragg exclaimed, bringing his shield out in front of himself. The front part of the shield opened up to reveal an eye, and underneath my hood I visibly paled.

_Oh crap, it's that eye again! I don't think I have enough magic to shield myself, and I don't have enough energy to take a hit like that! What do I do? Do I shield it, try to dodge, try to take it, what do I do?..._

"Wolf Attack!" Koragg yelled, and I panicked even more now that the purple magic was rushing at me.

I quickly squeezed my eyes shut, ready for the impact, when none came. I ventured to open my eye a crack, and saw that I was now … standing behind Koragg.

_What-….forget it. It works for now….._

I quickly slashed at Koragg with my daggers, sending him stumbling forward as he let out a grunt of pain. He quickly turned around to face me, and I found the strength inside myself to grin crookedly.

"You will pay for that someday, warrior, but not today," Koragg declared, quickly making his way over to where Clare was now laying on the ground and jerked her to her feet roughly, "I have other business to attend to,"

A familiar blue symbol appeared on the ground beneath them, and Clare looked around, panicking as she began to sink into the ground.

"Fight, Clare!" I called out to the young sorceress as I sprinted forward to try to save her.

"Not this time," Koragg growled, and brought his shield out in front of him again, "Wolf attack!"

I didn't have time to react this time as the dark magic rushed out of Koragg's shield and towards me.

I let out a choked gasp as the attack hit its mark, and I was flung backwards. Instead of hitting the ground though, by back met with somebody's chest and a pair of warm arms wrapped around me as my rescuer stumbled to the ground, acting as my cushion.

I was laying on my side, strange arms still around me, when I heard my rescuer groan.

"That was one crazy attack," Nick stated, voice strained with pain, "You ok?"

I attempted to find the strength to say something, even if it was "no", but couldn't bring myself to do it. The pain in my heart was at the worst it had ever been, and that alone made me want to curl into a ball and die. My stomach area felt like it was on fire, but at least my shoulder had stopped throbbing since Koragg had gone away.

"Em?" Nick asked hesitantly, seeing that I didn't move.

Unexpectedly, a cough racked my body, and I was surprised when I cracked my eyes open just a bit to see blood spattered on the ground, and a metallic taste in my mouth. I closed my eyes again as nausea settled into my stomach, too.

Nick shuffled around, and gently laid me on my back as he used his arm to keep my head and waist propped up. He softly pulled my hood down, and then took out his morpher and called the other rangers.

"Guys, where are you?" He asked into the phone, sounding slightly panicked. I suddenly wished I wasn't in so much pain and I could tell him to calm down, and that everything was gonna be ok.

"I need Udonna here now…..it's Emma, she's-" Nick's voice cracked a little bit at this point in his conversation, but he continued on, "She's- something's wrong with her…I don't know what to do!... ….Ok, I can do that…..Get here fast…"

I heard Nick's morpher snap shut, and heard Nick let out a sigh.

"Cura, Cura," Nick seemed to be reciting something, "Ok, I got this….."

Suddenly, a warm hand was placed over my stomach, and I wanted to cry from the pain of that small movement. My brow slightly creased in pain, which didn't go unnoticed by Nick.

"Everything's gonna be alright, Ems," Nick declared to me, almost in a whisper, before continuing on with what he was doing.

"Uh, Cura," Nick chanted the spell, and I could literally feel the magic move from his hand and into my body. As the magic continued on through my body, I could feel my stomach lose some of its pain, but not all of it. As the magic traveled to my heart, the pain barely lessened at all. This lack of healing in my heart injected a sort of sadness into me. A sadness and fear.

_What if…what if I can't be healed? What if Nick can't do anything? What if…..this really is the end? The end for the rangers, the end for Clare, the end for Adrion, the end for Udonna, for me…for Nick….And I won't be able to do a thing about it….. I won't be able to help the people I really care about the most….._

Thunder rumbled above us, and I could feel and hear the cold rain coming down.

"Em, don't give up just yet," Nick spoke to me, taking his hand off my stomach to wrap it around my waist and pull me closer to him as the rain came down, sheilding me somewhat, "Udonna will be here any second. She'll help you. Don't give up hope, Em…"

The way Nick said these words to me made me even sadder when I thought about him and everybody else that I loved not being able to get through this. His words also made me fight against the unconsciousness closing in on me.

The rain began to pour down harder, and I could see the flash of lightning behind closed eyes. My clothes quickly became soaking wet, and I'm sure that Nick was in the same position as I.

Suddenly, a vague whooshing sound reached my ears, as well as footsteps padding across the wet concrete.

I could feel someone kneel next to me as Nick held me out to whoever was there. The familiar touch of an icy cold hand was on my stomach one moment, and the next moment touching my heart. I could feel the magic probing my body to find out what was wrong.

"Udonna, is she…" Adrion started, voice weak, but he didn't finish his sentence. I could hear the dread lacing his voice, and it hurt me to think of my best friend so … hopeless.

"Rangers and Adrion, stop the gate from being opened. I will heal Emma, now go," Udonna told them, and hesitant footsteps made their way to the gates, except…..

"Nick?" Udonna questioned, and I could feel Nick's grip on me growing tighter and unmoving.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving her, Udonna," Nick stated calmly, and I heard Udonna sigh.

"Very well," Udonna submitted, and placed her hand over my stomach.

"So….what's wrong?" Nick asked hesitantly, as the magic rushed into my stomach, much more powerful than Nick's, and began to heal me.

"How many times was she kicked in the stomach today?" Udonna questioned with slight exasperation.

"Twice," Nick responded confidently, like he had watched both my battles intently, "Why?"

Udonna let out an exasperated sigh as she finished healing my stomach. Now that the pain was gone, relief flooded into me, even with the pain of my heart still bouncing around.

"If she had gotten kicked in the ribs, it most likely would've broken them, and punctured some of her organs," Udonna continued, placing a hand gently over my heart. My brow creased in pain as she did so, "Instead, by being kicked in the stomach, it avoided broken bones, but still damaged her organs, therefor giving her internal bleeding, which is why she coughed up blood,"

"…Shit…" I heard Nick mumble, and could feel his eyes practically boring holes into my face, "And what's wrong with her heart?"

My mind froze as Nick asked this question.

_If Udonna tells Nick what happened he's gonna be so mad at me_ _for not telling him and everybody else! GREAT! Right when I thought we were getting closer to each other! Don't say anything, Udonna! Don't do it!..._

Despite my mental will for Udonna to keep her mouth shut, she began to tell Nick anyway, while simultaneously healing my injured heart.

"Do you remember when Emma was changed into a vampire?" Udonna questioned, then continued on after Nick nodded, "When she was a vampire, she didn't need a heart to survive, so it disappeared."

I could feel the soreness of my heart begin to disappear as Udonna continued the story.

"When she was changed back, she needed a heart to live as a human, so it grew back….but not as large or strong as it originally was. Now, her heart's weak. So if she uses too much magic, or pushes herself too far, her heart takes the beating,"

Now the pain was almost completely gone from my heart, only leaving a soreness in its wake. Udonna took her hand off my heart, and I could hear her stand.

"I must go help the others. Come as soon as you can," Udonna told Nick, and I could hear her footsteps run away, leaving the red ranger and I alone in the storm. Now that the pain was gone, I opened my eyes with ease to meet Nick's.

He didn't say anything, but immediately wrapped his arms around me in a hug. Hesitantly, I returned it.

"Holy shit, Emma, are you ok?" Nick mumbled into my hair, and I faltered on how to answer.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied, and Nick pulled away from me to look me in the eyes, opening his mouth to speak.

"And before you say anything about my heart," I cut him off before he even began to talk, "I just wanna let you know that I would've said something about it had the need arise, but I didn't know how to tell anyone. I just…I didn't wanna make a big deal out of it, "

I shifted my eyes to the ground, or anywhere besides Nick's gaze. I heard him sigh, and I took a chance to look back up at him. I was surprised to see him smiling.

"I understand," He said, and stood, offering me a hand up. Grinning, I took it and stood.

"Let's go kick some Underworld butt, then!" I declared, summoning my daggers away from where they had been lying on the ground, and started towards the gates of the Underworld. I was stopped suddenly by a hand on my shoulder, and looked back to see Nick.

"Just try not to use so much magic, ok?" Nick responded, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, mother. Now come on!" I responded with a smile, grabbing his hand and running towards the gates…

…..

Hey everyone! ^-^ It's nobody! So, I really wanted to thank everyone. Readers, reviewers, everyone. This is gonna sound so lame, but it made me really happy to see that I posted a chapter and within 24 hours, there was _**7 new reviews…**_…. -w- It made me soooooo happpyyy! So thank you a lot! ^w^ And in honor of my excitement, as well as over 100 reviews to my story, I drew up a pic! ^w^ It's digital, which isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I gave it my best shot. ^-^''' So, enjoy! And thank you so much again! ^w^ ….and in case you couldn't tell (I don't blame you if you couldn't T_T), Emma is holding her hood like she's about to flip it up. ^-^ The link is on my profile, 'cuz it wouldn't go here. -_-' Anyways, hope you like it! ^-^ If it doesn't work for some reason, message me or tell me in a review. ^-^ See ya!


	48. Chapter 48

As we approached the gates, my attention was immediately drawn to the creature standing and roaring above it.

"What is that thing?" I asked the rangers over the roar of the monster as Nick and I joined them.

"The gargoyle of the gates," Udonna replied grimly, without taking her gaze from the monster looming above us.

"He's an ugly thing, isn't he mate?" Xander called over to me, but I didn't have time to respond as the creature took a step forwards, nearly squishing the rangers and I. We were all flown back by the force, and I immediately scrambled to stand. I winced at the pain vibrating through my shoulder, and realized that Koragg had to be somewhere close by.

_He's probably in the Gates with Clare…_

"Look out!"

I was roughly snapped from my thoughts as I heard someone yell, and dived out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit by lasers from the gargoyle's staff. I looked up at the monster and glared at him….her…._it_.

_I better focus if I wanna survive this…_

I quickly flipped my hood up and let out a whistle. Surprisingly, Junky whizzed to my side, and as I looked around, I realized Adrion was nowhere in sight.

I didn't get to dwell on the thought, though, and looked up in time to see Nick and Chip send a flying kick to the monster while in their megazord form.

_Let's just take this thing down, grab Clare, and get the hell out of here…._

_..._

"You did not tell me the rangers were sneaking into the Underworld!" Necrolai screeched, as she shot magic at Adrion. The boy feebly put his arms up to block himself, which were already littered with cuts and bruises from previous attacks by Necrolai. The attack sent him to his knees, breathing ragged and uneven.

"I …. I couldn't contact you," Adrion responded weakly between breaths, head hanging.

Hasty footsteps approached him, and a clawed hand wrapped around his neck and jerked his head roughly upwards, forcing the boy to look Necrolai in the eyes.

The monster hissed in irritation and anger.

"Lies!" She declared, and picked Adrion up with one arm and threw him against the wall of a building.

The teen winced as a wave of pain washed over his back, and instead of getting up, he simply stayed where he was on the ground. He knew that if he were to fight back, he would only cause himself pain.

Footsteps once more approached him, and stopped in front of him.

"Tell me, do you _want _to see your little friend suffer and die?" Necrolai asked the boy, her voice dangerously calm and sweet.

Adrion didn't even bother to lift his head. Of course he wanted to keep Emma safe. But if he'd known what he was getting her into _before_ all this happened…

"Well?" Necrolai coaxed, her voice gaining irritation by the second.

The teenage boy lifted his head slightly to glare at her, and didn't answer, giving her a 'no-shit-Sherlock' glance.

"Answer me!" The monster growled, lashing out and slapping the youth directly across the face. Her claws dragged along his skin roughly, leaving cuts in their wake.

Adrion winced at the newly inflicted pain, and found his voice, hanging his head.

"No,"

Necrolai seemed to be satisfied with this answer, and stood over him triumphantly.

"Then I would kindly suggest that the next time you and your pathetic friends plan something, I be the first to know of it," She sneered at the boy, venom dripping from her every word, "Or you know the consequence,"

A strange symbol appeared on the palm of the teen's hand, glowing, and pulsating pain throughout his entire body. It took all of Adrion's strength not to cry out as the pain worsened.

"Do I make myself clear?" The voice of the monster reached his ears as he fought to stay conscious. Finally finding enough strength to do so, the boy nodded weakly as the pain increased still.

Necrolai chuckled darkly.

"I thought so," She stated before disappearing into a symbol to the Underworld. As she departed, the pain pulsing from Adrion's hand began to disappear, and finally went away completely, leaving only soreness in its wake.

The teen sat against the wall, exhausted, beaten, and on the verge of unconsciousness. Small streams of blood trickled from the cuts on his face, but that was the worst of his worries for now. Struggling to pull himself up off the ground, the teen stumbled towards the gates of the Underworld, hoping to find his friends before he lost consciousness completely…

_ **EMMA'S P.O.V._**

I watched as all the rangers combined into their single megazord form, making what looked like an even match for the gargoyle of the gates.

A flash of white caught my attention, though, and I quickly turned my head to see Udonna morphing into her white ranger uniform, then making her way to the gates.

"Udonna, where-" I started to call over to the sorceress, but she cut me off.

"To help Clare! Stay here," She answered and ordered me in a single sentence, and in another flash of white magic she was gone. I sighed and turned back to the fight going on in front of me.

"Mystic Spell Seal!" The rangers shouted, and brought their sword down for the strike.

Suddenly, the gargoyle disappeared, and reappeared behind the rangers, rendering their attack useless.

"Look out behind you!" I shouted to the rangers, but it was too late.

It quickly swung it's sword down, hitting the rangers square on the back. The rangers stumbled forwards, then swiftly recovered from the attack, and turned around to swipe at the monster with their sword. Suddenly, the monster teleported again, and lashed out at the ranger's megazord, hitting it square in the chest. The rangers stumbled backwards roughly, crashing into the gate of the Underworld.

"That's it!" I declared to myself in frustration, driving my broom to behind the gargoyle, and lashing out at it's back with my daggers.

The monster let out a screech, and turned to face me with burning eyes.

"Oh shit," I mumbled to myself, and managed to dodge the first array of attacks sent at me by the monster. I flew out of the way when the monster lashed out at me with his staff, but what I heard next made me cringe in horror.

"Hello, rangers!" Moritcon's voice came from the gate, and I looked over to see the gate actually cracked open.

"Your megazord cracked the gate enough for me to slip through," Morticon continued, and I listened as I swerved around on my broom trying to dodge the gargoyle's attacks, "Now you whole world will know my crushing power!"

Suddenly, the gates flung open, and Morticon was fully out.

_Shit, this is NOT good!..._

Morticon, while still in his megazord form, immediately brought his sword down onto the rangers, hitting their megazord directly across the chest and sent them stumbling backwards, and engaging the two megazords in battle.

I turned back to my own fight, and swerved out of the way of another attack.

_I hope the rangers can handle Morticon, 'cuz I have my hands full with this thing. How do I beat it, though? …_

The whole time I was thinking, I was subconsciously aware of the clash of metal against metal, and Junky helped move me out of the way of the monsters attacks. I could feel the monster grow more and more irritated by the second. Suddenly, a thought came to me.

_If I just irritate the monster MORE, he'll start to lose his cool and create an opening for me to attack! I'll just piss him off, THEN strike!..._

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the rangers shot into the sky, and came flying back down, their sword poised and ready.

"Titans, attack!" I heard them all yell, swiping their sword at Morticon as they ascended. Surprisingly, Morticon blocked the attack, and returned with one of his own, sending the ranger's megazord to the ground.

"Is that the best you've got?" Morticon taunted them, as the rangers got back up to fight again.

"Hardly!" Nick retorted.

I grew pale when I saw Morticon swinging his sword around, a type of black flame coating the metal.

_That CAN'T be good…._

"Now you'll see what true power feels like!" Morticon declared, brandishing his sword like a maniac, "Dark Magic strike!"

"Move!" I yelled to the rangers, but it was too late. An explosion erupted throughout the area, and as I looked on with horror, saw the rangers fall to the ground. I immediately turned back to the monster in front of me, and began to maneuver again.

_They can't be…dead, can they?_

I quickly swerved out of the way of the monster's staff once more.

_I better get this thing taken care of and go see if they're ok….._

"Hey ugly, is that the best you've got?" I shouted to the monster, and could literally see the rage surge in its eyes as it swiped at me more ferociously than ever.

"You're so weak I bet you can barely lift that staff!"

The monster crazily sent a wave of lasers from its staff at me, and I just barely had time to dodge the attack.

"PANSY ASS!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, and literally _shuddered _when the monster let out a terrifying roar. The gargoyle swung its staff high above its head, leaving me an opening for the moment.

I immediately summoned one of my daggers, pushed magic into my weapon and my arm, and chucked it at the monster with all my strength. With a sickening thud, the dagger sunk into the monster's chest. That didn't stop the monster there, though. With a shriek that almost burst my eardrums, the monster continued with his attack.

I immediately anticipated the attack, and quickly stretched my hand out.

"Rupti!" I shouted as the staff quickly traveled towards me, and suddenly the entire area shook with the force of an explosion as the monster detonated.

"Sheildo," I chanted, creating a thin wall of magic to protect Junky and I. We were still thrown back from the force of the explosion, but Junky soon righted himself, and as the flames dissolved, flew me towards the rangers.

Hastily I stumbled off my broom as I approached the bodies on the ground. I was relieved to see them moving and struggling to get up, but as I approached them, was met with another problem. The sky began to darken, and the gates of the Underworld seemed to steam. The black clouds traveled across the sky, coating it completely within a matter of seconds.

"Guys, are you-" I started, but suddenly a sharp pain ripped through my shoulder as I fell to my knees next to the rangers. My hand flew to grasp my shoulder and my brow creased in pain.

"You ok?" I managed to get out between clenched teeth, looking at the rangers. They were all struggling to get up, which was good because it meant that they were still alive.

"How are we supposed to fight him? We don't have that kind of power," Xander choked out from his position on the ground, ignoring my question.

_I guess that means he's ok, then…_

"Yeah, he's even stronger than last time," Chip agreed, as we sat here to witness the destruction of our own world.

"Oh, come on!" I struggled out between clenched teeth as the pain in my shoulder never ceased, but worsened, "So we're just gonna sit here and do nothing about it?"

I paused for a moment to catch my breath, then continued.

"I don't know about you guys, but I kinda like it here. Especially when Hideaks aren't infesting the streets and killing everybody in the damn town. I also kinda like the fact that _Morticon isn't supreme ruler of the earth." _At this point, I was getting a little sarcastic, so I paused to switch back into serious mode.

"My point is, I'm not gonna be the one sitting here and watching when I know I can do something about it," I finished, and struggled to stand. The ripping pain in my shoulder increased with each passing minute, and I knew that it would only get worse.

I whistled and held out my hand, and Junky flew right into it. I turned back to the rangers.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" I asked them, as I zipped into the sky towards Morticon….

...

Hey everybody! It's nobody! ^-^ Sorry about not posting for five days...v_v I had a lot of school. So, I apologize. I also wanted to let you guys know that I drew a pic of Emma, and the link is on my profile. Just copy and paste into the boxy at the top of the screen. ^-^ tell me what ya think! See ya later!


	49. Chapter 49

_Ok, so how am I gonna take him down?..._

I slowly hovered to and fro, witnessing the destruction Morticon was serving to the town as my shoulder continued to throb mercilessly.

_Look at how strong he is! How am I supposed to beat this?..._

My mind quickly scanned all my options as I flipped my hood up, ready to attack.

_I probably shouldn't use any more large-scale spells. I don't wanna give myself a heart attack. I could use my daggers, but it would probably only give him as much as a paper cut. I could try the same thing I did with the gargoyle of the gates, but I don't think he would be so stupid as to leave me an opening to attack like that. It would only waste my energy….._

I watched as Morticon literally sliced a building in half with his bone-like sword, and I growled under my breath.

_Damn him and that sword! I bet he can't even fight without it!..._

My eyes opened wide as I realized what I had thought.

_Wait…..What if he __**can't **__fight without it? If I get him away from that sword, I might have a better chance!.,….._

I immediately swerved my broom to face Morticon, and summoned my dagger that I had used to defeat the gargoyle of the gates. I carefully watched Morticon, and when I saw him stand still, immediately lurched forward on Junky, pushing magic into my arm for the extra-extra strength needed.

I took aim, and chucked my dagger. With a thunk, it hit Morticon's wrist, and I continued to fly towards him, then proceeded to fly under his wrist and arm to anticipate the falling sword. With luck, I managed to grasp the hilt instead of the blade of the now back-to-normal-size sword.

Morticon let out a roar. Whether it was out of frustration that he just lost his weapon, or the fact that my dagger had caught him directly in the wrist, I didn't know. All I knew was that I needed to get out of there before he came after me!

I summoned my dagger away that had sunk into Morticon's wrist, and , sword in hand, turned to face the monster.

"You insolent little witch!" Morticon yelled at me, "Return to me my weapon immediately!"

I grinned.

"Say please," I retorted, and suddenly Morticon came charging at me with a growl.

Quickly, I turned my broom around, and headed upwards into the sky.

_He can't fly, so he can't get me up here…._

Suddenly, a ball of burning, black magic rushed towards me. With a surprised yelp, I swerved Junky around to avoid being killed.

"Give me my weapon!" Morticon roared, sounding even angrier that last time.

"Come and get it!" I called back to him, as I did loops in the sky. Doing loops was quite hard, actually, considering I was only steering with one hand, seeing as though my other was holding Morticon's sword.

_I really hope the rangers get their act together and come over to help me…._

Morticon quickly sent me an array of attacks, and it took all of my concentration to swerve, duck, dodge, flip, and move out of the way of them.

Morticon yelled in frustration at me, and suddenly, flames erupted from his mouth and proceeded towards me.

I panicked, not having anticipated the attack, and flew Junky upwards, avoiding the steady stream of fire narrowly. Morticon, though, was apparently not done with his attack, and continued to shoot the flames at me as I flew upwards. Immediately, I searched my brain for ways to get myself out of this mess, and found only one.

Quickly, I turned Junky around to face the flames, and swiftly moved around the side of them, which in turn had me falling at an alarming rate towards the ground.

"Alright, Junky. We got this," I told my broom, as the ground began to get closer and closer. It took all my will power not to pull up too early.

"Now!" I told him, and pulled up on his handle. Junky quickly righted himself, and soon we were flying parallel to the ground, flames still following us.

I kept my eyes forward to avoid hitting metal picnic tables, people, or just brick walls in general, but found that as much as I attempted to evade Morticon's attacks, I couldn't shake _him_.

"Emma! Emma, over here!"

I didn't know exactly who was calling me, but I think it sounded like Chip. I flashed my head up to see the rangers yelling and waving at me to come towards them, all in their megazord form. I immediately took them up on their offer and made a beeline towards them.

I shot towards them as quickly as I could, and was aware of Morticon's flames getting closer behind me. I urged Junky to go faster as the heat from the flames licked at my back, and he quickly picked up his pace.

Suddenly, I crashed into a megazord's chest, just as the flames reached me. I squeezed my eyes shut in panic.

…Nothing happened.

I dared to open my eyes and look around, but as I pried one open, I was met with only darkness.

It took me a moment to realize what had happened.

Chip opened his wings up, and I was met with a dark, cloudy sky, and an angry Morticon. I smiled up at Chip.

"Thanks for the save!" I called up to him, and if his megazord could've smiled, it would have.

"No problem," I heard him call back, and I flew out of his wings to hover next to him. I quickly looked down at my broom.

"You ok?" I asked Junky, afraid he might've hurt himself during our rough encounter with Chip's megazord chest.

Junky seemed to nod, and I let out a sigh of relief. But, looking at the other rangers, I realized someone was missing.

"Where's Nick?" I asked Chip, who turned his giant megazord head to look down at me.

"He went to get Clare," Chip returned, "You might wanna go with him. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll get himself into,"

I hovered hesitantly on my broom next to the ranger.

"But what about you guys? Are you gonna be ok until we get back?" I questioned him, and I heard him chuckle.

"Please. We can beat fat, old Morticon any day," Chip responded, causing me to giggle.

"Ok. But when I come back I expect to see you alive!" I called, as I turned Junky around and zipped towards the gates.

"We will be!" Chip called, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I quickly set my sights on the gates of the Underworld, and sped towards it. A flash of movement caught my attention on the ground, though, and as I looked to see who or what it was, I pulled Junky into a deep dive.

Junky leveled himself with the ground and began to speed about in the swarm of hideaks, I started to attack with Morticon's sword. After a moment or two, I jumped off of Junky to continue fighting.

Soon, all the Hideaks lay slain on the ground, but suddenly, something grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.

I quickly swiped my sword from the side to attack my said oppressor, but the attack was barely blocked by an all too familiar sword.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked me, sounding somewhat relieved and exasperated that I had followed him.

"Same thing as you," I responded, summoning Morticon's sword away, "And you really should say something, and not just _grab _me. It's gonna get you killed someday,"

"Why did you follow me?" He questioned me, ignoring my comment, and I rolled my eyes.

"Why are you standing here quizzing me when we have a sorceress to save?" I questioned him as his hand that was on my shoulder slid off, "Come on,"

I quickly mounted onto my broom, and Nick nodded and did the same with his motorcycle. His _red _motorcycle, that is. The one fit for battle.

I grinned at him, and in a flash, we headed towards the gates of the Underworld.

As we quickly approached the gates, it seemed to glow almost _red. _With a hesitant look, I glanced over at Nick, and began to fly lower to the ground in order to talk to the ranger.

"Nick?" I questioned, somewhat uncertainly, "What does the red light mean?"

"I don't know. But I do know that Clare and Udonna are in there," Nick replied with confidence in his voice.

The throbbing in my shoulder became more of a ripping pain now that we were getting closer, and I just nodded my head at Nick.

"Yeah, and Koragg, too," I commented, with bitterness and pain in my voice, "He's _not_ getting away this time,"

"Just don't overwork yourself, Emma," Nick responded, with concern lacing his voice, "I'd like to walk out of this battle _without_ you getting a heart attack,"

I grinned crookedly at him from under my hood.

"Only if you promise me that _you _won't walk out in the same condition as last time," I responded, with playfulness dripping from my words, but hidden concern behind them.

"What do you mean?" Nick questioned with confusion, as we sped by buildings and came closer and closer to the gates of the Underworld. I looked over at him disbelievingly.

"You mean you don't remember?" I questioned quizzically, and it was Nick's turn to scoff at me.

"Yes, I remember," Nick stated, sounding slightly irritated, "I know that Necrolai …. really did a number on me, not to mention everybody else, but I didn't think it was that serious," Nick replied, turning his head to look at me. I kept my gaze emotionless and turned straight forward, remembering the panic I felt when all of this had happened.

"What happened was that you used all of your magic," I started to explain, as we continued to fly and drive along, "So, what happens after you use all of your regular magic, your body switches to an emergency outlet of magic. Since you used almost all of that, too, and barely had enough physical energy left… you could've died," I explained to him, and stated the last part bluntly.

"But Udonna wasn't there," Nick started, "So who….."

I blushed severely at the thought of that situation, and sincerely hoped that Nick hadn't been conscious for any of it. I was also hoping desperately that he wasn't going to finish his sentence with, "Who kissed me?", and so I waited in grim anticipation for him to complete his sentence.

"So who took care of me and everyone else?" Nick questioned, looking directly at me. Now, I began to blush even _more _that Nick had pointed out that I had taken care of him, and assumed the leadership position when he was gone.

"Smokey the Bear," I retorted, sarcastic and defensive, "Who do you think?"

I heard Nick chuckle, and I turned my head to glare at him.

"What's so funny?" I responded with a snap, as we finally approached the gates and stopped in front of it. I quickly mounted off of Junky, then crossed my arms and looked over at Nick again, waiting for an answer.

"Nothing, nothing at all," He responded, and I could literally hear the teasing smile in his voice, "Just that you're such a big softie but you act like such a hard ass,"

I growled at him from under my breath, and quickly stormed by him to stand I front of the gates of the Underworld.

"We don't have time for this," I stated, as I faced the gates of the Underworld, "Let's just get Clareand Udonna and get outta here,"

Nick chuckled as he came to stand next to me, and put a hand on my head (which was currently covered by my cloak).

"Whatever you say, Shorty," He replied jokingly, and I ignored him as we slipped through the gates of the Underworld…

... er, hi. ^-^' Im back! eh heh hehe hehehh... *is punctured by sharp objects, weapons, Junky, and other such things thrown by readers*... I deserved that. Y_Y Im soooo sorrry guys! Im a horrible person for not updating like I did! TTTTT_TTTTT forgive meeeeeee! So, in order to try to make things up a little bit, I drew you all another picture! ^_^ the link is here #/d580c9j that's my account, if ya wanna check me out! ~_^ anyway, I really am sorry for all of this. Y_Y Ive just been enjoying summer vacation to the fullest, and kinda forgot about it... IM SO SORRY! Q_Q Im going to try to be more frequent, but it's gonna be slow, ok? But I AM going to try to post! ^-^ so fear not, readers, I- *is attacked by all the readers, is shanked repeatedly, gets hit i the head with books and other hard objects*... I deserved that, too. Q_Q


	50. Holy Crap, It's Chapter 50!

**AUTHOR NORE~**

**HOLY CRAP IT'S CHAPTER 50! NEVER THOUGHT I'D MAKE IT THIS FAR! THANKS TO ALL THE READERS AND REVIEWERS WHO GAVE THE SUPPORT NECESSARY FOR ME TO GET TO THIS POINT. *sniffle* I LOVE YOU GUYS!**

As we slipped through the gates of the Underworld, it was like slipping into darkness. As I looked around, all I could see was…. black. Endless oblivion engulfed me. Looking around, I couldn't even see Nick. As I took a glance at my own body, I realized I couldn't see myself either.

"Nick?" I questioned softly, attempting to call out for him, but at the same time trying to keep our cover in case someone from the Underworld was in this darkness also.

"Emma? Where are you?" Nick called back quietly from my right.

"I think I'm to your left," I responded, stretching a hand out towards his voice. Slowly, though, I could sense myself beginning to feel more and more enclosed. Trapped. Confined in this darkness.

Suddenly, my fingertips met with a somewhat rough surface, but at the same time quite warm.

"Nick, is that you?" I questioned, and got my answer as a warm hand laced with my cold one.

"Yeah," He responded, and I let out a sigh of relief knowing that I wasn't alone in the endless night. I felt a little more relieved now.

"Okay, so where do we find Clare?" I questioned, attempting to keep the blush that was threatening to cover my face _down_.

"The gate is almost open," Koragg's voice boomed throughout the entire darkness that engulfed us. As his voice rang out, the throbbing in my shoulder spiked mercilessly. Subconsciously, I let out a choked gasp as the pain seemed to grow into my chest, as my grip on Nick's hand tightened on instinct.

"Emma, what's wrong?" Nick's voice reached my ears, and for the moment, I ignored the pain. Quickly, I tugged on Nick's hand to pull him closer and whisper to him.

"Shhh, if we can hear Koragg, he can hear us," I started, and then continued, "We just gotta follow his voice,"

"And that'll lead us to Clare and Udonna," Nick stated back in a whisper, and I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me.

"Yeah. Let's go," I replied, and we quickly took off towards Koragg's voice in a run.

"But the gatekeeper's energy is almost gone!" Udonna's voice rang out in the endless gloom that surrounded us, and we continued to race towards them, "Clare will not survive!"

"It was the only way," Koragg barked back, sounding almost apologetic as he spoke to Udonna.

Nick and I continued to race along, and soon a sliver of light was seen up ahead of us, prompting me to run faster.

The light began to get bigger the more we ran, and soon I could make out figures.

_What's that above Clare?...It looks like some type of seal….. Crap, it's probably to open the gates! We gotta stop it before it drains Clare's energy and DOES open the gates!..._

Slipping my hand out of Nick's, I pushed magic into my legs and body and full out _sprinted _towards Clare.

"This isn't your fault," Clare's voice rang out in the darkness, defeated and drained of life, as she spoke to Udonna. I set my jaw in grim anticipation.

"Emma!" Nick called out, all too loudly, as I leapt forward_ just_ as the seal completed itself and sent a blast of magic towards Clare.

In a bright flash of magic, I was thrown onto the ground from the force of the seal's blow, and Clare was drawn to her knees, now broken free of the seal's spell.

With a thud, my body collided with the floor, and I slid several feet on the smooth ground, finally stopping and laying in a heap of grey.

Heavy, angry footsteps approached me, and suddenly, I was jerked into a standing position by the collar of my cloak. Suddenly, the pain in my shoulder increased even _more _at Koragg's touch, and I let out a strangled gasp.

"You have tried my patience once already, warrior, but this time you have gone too far!" Koragg declared, and I heard the familiar sound of the wolf warrior's sword being drawn, "Now, I will finish what I have started!"

Koragg lunged his sword forward swiftly, but a bonelike blade blocked the blow as I summoned Morticon's weapon. I quickly kicked the warrior in the chest, forcing him back a few feet, and regained my composure as I assumed an attack position.

"What? But how-" Koragg began, but was cut off by Nick.

"Koragg!" Nick shouted to the warrior, as he leapt out of the darkness to send a kick to the warrior's chest.

Koragg grunted as he was thrown back _another _few feet.

Udonna let out a sigh of relief from her little prison of light, and I turned my head to grin at her.

"Didn't think I was gonna just ditch you guys, now did ya?" I questioned her teasingly, but suddenly Udonna's smile faded as she looked at me with worry.

"You must get Clare out of here _now," _Udonna said to me, as Nick and I stood between Koragg and Clare, "She has lost almost all of her energy, and I fear the worst for her if she isn't healed soon,"

I nodded to Udonna in understanding, and Nick stepped forwards.

"I challenge you to a fight right now Koragg!" He declared, summoning his mystic force fighters.

"I never say no to a challenge!" Koragg declared, and in an overwhelming flash of purple magic, we were standing in a clearing. Suddenly, the pain in my shoulder dropped back down to the normal rate it is when I'm around Koragg, and I looked around confusedly.

"Wh-What's happening?" I heard Nick mumble to himself, and then heard Clare call out to him.

"Your challenge, my battle field," Koragg declared, and as I looked around, giggled to myself. We were in a _grassy clearing, with a blue sky, and a bright, happy sun. _This did not look like Koragg to me.

"Gee, Koragg, I didn't know you liked rainbows and sunshine," I called to him as I smirked at him from under my hood. He simply growled at me, and turned back to Nick.

"I am ready," Koragg stated as he drew his sword, and suddenly both Nick and Koragg both lurched forward to engage in a fierce battle. Blows and parries were exchanged between the two fighters as I had never seen before. There seemed to be no winner for quite some time, until Koragg managed to land a hit on Nick.

I winced as I watched all this from the sidelines, wishing I could jump in and help.

_I can't just jump into a battle like that! But if push comes to shove, I'll have no problem kicking Koragg's butt FOR nick….._

Suddenly, Koragg flipped Nick roughly onto his back, and as I watched, I began to feel more and more uneasy about this battle.

_It looks like Koragg is just toying with him…_

"Mystic force fighter!"

Nick jumped up and launched his attack, only to be sent back to the ground by Koragg. In a flash of red magic, Nick's boxing gloves were gone.

"Magi Staff strike!"

Nick tried a new attack as he got up from the ground again, but with more effort I noticed.

Koragg blocked every blow Nick sent towards him, and even laid some on the ranger himself while he was at it. As the battle progressed, I found myself even more anxious as the fight moved towards the edge of a nearby cliff.

_Why is there a cliff there?..._

But suddenly, in a clash of metal and a spark of magic, a flash of red disappeared over the cliff.

"Nick!"

The name involuntarily came from my mouth, and I quickly ran to the edge of the cliff to witness the ongoing fight as Koragg descended to level himself with the ranger.

"It's not over!" I heard Nick manage to get out, and haul himself into a standing position.

"Right you are," Koragg declared, as he began to run at the ranger, weapon raised and ready for an attack.

_Oh crap, I gotta do something! Nick's gonna get butchered!..._

I looked around and desperately racked my brain for something to do to help Nick, but I was cut short by the sound of his voice.

"Fire of the Phoenix!"

An overwhelming flash of red magic filled the fighting arena, and as it cleared, I expected to see Koragg at least _wounded _on the ground, but instead found him standing fully up with seemingly no injuries at all.

"Your magic is strong, but it cannot compare to that of the master!" Koragg declared, and as my eyes flashed towards Nick, I found him on one knee on the ground, "Behold his Power!"

I looked down in horror of the black magic emanating from Koragg, and suddenly the pain in my shoulder spiked mercilessly again, even more than it had before. I unwillingly let out a choked cry, and grasped my shoulder with my good hand, but continued to watch the fight through squinted eyes.

"Dark magic strike!" Koragg declared, and in an enormous explosion of black magic, Nick was thrown against the base of the cliff as Koragg approached him. I noticed offhandedly that Nick's magi staff had flown far out of reach.

_That's it! I'm jumping in there!..._

I summoned away Morticon's sword, and slowly began the ascent down the steep face of the cliff. As I looked down, I saw Koragg Pinning Nick against the cliff, and I noticed that a heated conversation was exchanged.

I quickly climbed to a place on the cliff face that wasn't so steep, and half walk half slid down to the bottom of the cliff. Every few moment I would check to see how Nick was doing, then continue to climb.

Suddenly, a bright flash of magic emanated from where the ranger and the warrior were, and the entire cliff shook from the force. Suddenly horrified to look, I continued to keep climbing faster.

…_I really hope that wasn't Koragg's magic….._

Finally summoning the courage to take a look, I saw a bright flash of red shoot into the sky, and a relieved smile stretched onto my face as I hurried down the cliff even more.

As I finally reached the cliff base, I looked up as a bright flash of red magic engulfed the entire area. In a moment, Nick was the only one standing where the two warriors had once stood. I immediately ran over to Nick as he was drawn to one knee on the ground.

I slid to a stop in front of him, and looked him in the…. helmet.

"Nick you ok?" I questioned him, and in a familiar fizzle of magic, Nick was now kneeling in his normal uniform.

_Ugh, not again…_

Nick grinned up at me, confidence showing on his face.

"Never better," He replied, as he struggled to stand. I quickly rose to his side and slung one of his arms around my shoulders to help support him.

"I can't believe he's finally gone," Nick stated, slight pain lacing his voice, but a smile on his face none the less.

"You couldn't have saved me a piece?" I responded with a smile of my own, as Clare came to a stop in front of us.

"You ok?" Nick questioned her, and Clare smiled right back.

"I never knew being a sorceress could be so hard," She stated with an innocent smile, but our moment of happiness was cut short as a flash of purple magic appeared in front of us. Suddenly, out of the dust rose…

"Koragg!"

Hey everybody! It's nobody! ^_^ I just wanted to let you guys know that Im not going to be posting for the next week. TT_TT *readers boo and throw bananas at me* I know, I know. Im going to be out of town, and will not be able to acsess a computer. Heck, Im gonna be outta STATE! :D so, I hope this hold you over. peace, love, and all that crap! :D ~nobody


	51. Chapter 51

Sorry about the wait. I was on vacation for the past week, and got back last night. I worked all day today. -_-' So, here's the next chapter. Enjoy! ^_^

* * *

><p>I slid Nick's arm off my shoulder as Clare took my place supporting him. I stood between my friends and the enemy, and summoned Morticon's sword, ready to attack or defend.<p>

"You may have destroyed my weapon, but you have not destroyed me," Koragg declared, his armor dirty and dented in dome places.

"It's not over, Koragg!" Nick stated, and as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, found him struggling to walk forward. I put my arm out in front of his chest to stop him.

"Nick, don't even_ try_," I stated with a steel voice, then grinned at him, "You got your turn, now it's mine,"

I turned back to the wolf warrior in front of me, and held Morticon's sword at the ready.

Koragg chuckled.

"I will not fight you now, warrior," He declared, as a symbol of the Underworld appeared beneath his feet, "But we will meet again, Dark One,"

In a fizzle of magic, he was gone. I growled under my breath as I summoned Morticon's weapon away and faced my friends again as I pulled my hood down.

_What a douche bag. He thinks he can just call me the Dark One and run away? Just wait untill I see him again!..._

"What a pansy," I mumbled under my breath, but lurched forward to catch Nick as he began to buckle. Again, I slung one of his arms around my shoulder, as his other was around Clare's.

"I'm fine, really," Nick said, but I could tell from the pain in his voice that he was _not _okay.

"I'm not stupid, Nick," I stated to him, and I looked over to Clare as she began to speak.

"What about the other rangers?" Clare spoke, looking more anxious by the moment, "Morticon will destroy them,"

My brow creased with worry. What if she was right?

"If I only had Catastros…" I heard Nick mumble under his breath.

Suddenly, my head snapped up, excitement gleaming in my eyes.

"Let's summon him, then," I said, and looked at my two teammate's disbelieving gazes.

Everything was quiet for a moment until Clare spoke up.

"Maybe we could combine our powers to get control of him," She suggested, and I grinned at her idea. In a moment, though, my smile fell.

"But Clare, this has already taken a lot out of you," I said, looking at her with concern, "I don't want you to over work yourself,"

"You can't overwork yourself, either," Nick pointed out to me from my right, giving me his best glare.

"_I'm _not the one who just fought Koragg," I returned, "If anyone would overwork themselves, it would be you,"

I looked over to Clare, who nodded in agreement, backing me up.

Gently, we moved Nick to the base of the cliff, and softly let him down on a rock. Nick was, of course, the whole time arguing. I simply ignored him and continued on with what I was doing.

As I set Nick down and slid his arm off my shoulder, I quickly plucked his magi staff from his belt, and dashed away before he could grab me.

"Hey!" Nick called out in frustration, as I joined Clare, "Give it back,"

"Nick, did you want that pony or not?" I called back in frustration, and heard Clare giggle, "We need your sword to summon the thing. You can have it right back,"

I turned from Nick and faced Clare.

"Let's do this," I told her, my face expressionless. I flipped my hood up, and waited for Clare to make the first move.

Clare nodded, and took a nervous breath as she held the magi staff up into the sky, my hand on top of hers. Nothing happened for a moment, until a red light began to emanate from it. Suddenly, a light purple glow began to emanate from Clare's crown thing. I was even more surprised when a grey light started to spring from my hand that was on the magi staff.

As the seconds ticked by, I could literally feel myself growing weaker, and the magic leaving my body. I didn't think I was going to pass out or anything, at least, I was _hoping _not to, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could do this.

I chanced a glance over at Clare to find her really struggling. Her eyebrows were knit together in concentration, and small beads of sweat made their way down her forehead.

_Poor thing's been through a lot today…..I ought to give her a break. Don't want her dying on us…_

I discreetly pushed more magic into the sword, just so we could be done sooner, and Clare didn't have to hold on for as long.

Just when I thought I was going to have to stop, a booming sound was heard, and the flow of magic stopped. I immediately dropped my hand down from Clare's, and took a moment to just _breathe. _A dizzying sensation flew over me, actually making me nauseous. I let out a small cough as I tried to get my sight straight again.

A gentle hand on my back helped to steady me, and as I pried my eyes open, I looked up to find Nick standing at my side, one hand placed on my back. Just having someone steady me made me feel a little better.

Or maybe I just felt better because that person was Nick.

I pushed the feeling of nausea aside, and stood up as straight as I could after just summoning a demon horse.

"Remember me?" Nick spoke out loud as he stepped up to Catastros, whipping out his morpher. He immediately changed into his megazord from, and as he climbed onto Catasrtos, I looked towards Clare.

"You gonna be ok?" I questioned her, a small smile alighting onto my face. Clare drew a small smile onto her face as well, and nodded to me.

"Go get 'em," She said, and I nodded, then let out a loud whistle. For a moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly, a swooshing sound reached my ears, and Junky came to a halt directly in front of me. Grinning, I climbed onto him, and looked up to Nick, and tossed him his magi staff.

"I'll race ya!" I called out to him, and as soon as the words left my mouth, Junky lurched forward swiftly.

"You asked for it!" Nick called back to me, and with the clomping of a demon pony's hooves, we set off towards the other rangers.

…

As we rode swiftly towards the other rangers (thankfully Nick knew where he was going), the sky darkened from its bright, happy blue, to the dark grey it was when we entered the Underworld.

My brow creased with worry at the realization of this.

_What does this mean? I hope nothing bad happened to the rangers….Just to be safe, I'll check….._

As I looked intently forward, I pushed magic into my eyes, enhancing my vision miraculously as I could see miles ahead of me. It took me a moment to adjust, but when I managed, I let the magic go and urged Junky to go faster.

"Nick, hurry up!" I called over to the ranger in panic.

"What-"

"Just hurry up! It's Morticon!" I cut him off, not even letting him finish his sentence. Understanding that I had a good reason to panic, and even though he was unaware of my motive, Nick swiftly caught up with me. As I drew closer to the gates though, the pain in my shoulder spiked brutally once more. I gritted my teeth in pain and continued on, pushing the pain aside.

Suddenly, a bright beam of light purple magic emanated from the sky as Nick and I drew closer. With a deafening sound, it shot at the gates of the Underworld.

_Oh no…._

With a mighty rumbling, the gates of the Underworld slowly began to lower into the ground. Strangely enough, as they went away, the grey clouds slowly began to dwindle away also, as well as the pain in my shoulder. I'd have to ask Udonna later why it kept doing that.

_FORGET THAT! I gotta get to the rangers!..._

I ignored my new revelation (for now), and sped on towards the rangers, reaching their fallen, beaten forms in a matter of minutes, and quickly summoning Morticon's sword just in case.

"Guys!" I called out to them desperately, circling Junky around their megazord's heads, "Guys! Are you okay? Answer me, please!"

"We're alright, Emma," Chip responded first, as he struggled to his feet. The rest of the rangers followed his motions, hauling themselves off the ground to face the enemy again.

"My dark magic!" Morticon exclaimed, his voice full of rage, "Who has done this?"

"Hey!" Nick called out, as he rode up to Morticon, "That'd be me!"

Shouts of exclamations escaped the rangers, as Nick and Catasrtos morphed into their combined megazord. In a moment, Nick and Morticon were engaged in a full out battle.

Blows and parries were sent back and forth, as well as slaps from Nick's flaming mohawk of death. Poor Morticon never knew what hit him. The rangers and I were standing (or in my case, hovering) at Nick's side, ready to fight.

"You guys ready?" Nick asked us, as Morticon got up from the ground, fuming with rage.

"You bet!"

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

"Ready!"

"Hell yeah,"

We all responded to the red ranger, and the rangers immediately morphed into their single megazord form, Catastros included. They swiftly lashed out at Morticon, hitting him square in the chest several times, guiding them into battle against the monster. I flew in occasionally to do what I could, but how much damage can I do to a 30 story warrior of the Underworld? After what seemed like hours of neither side seeming to win or lose, the two opponents stepped away from each other, each ready for the other's attack.

"Time to end this!" Morticon declared, and with a wave of his hand, his sword flew out of my grasp and into his own.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, as the sword reached it's real master's hand. With a swing of his sword that sent a wave of panic through me, as black flames appeared on the monster's weapon.

"Good Bye, rangers!" Morticon declared sadistically, swinging his sword around once more, and lashing out roughly.

"Move!" I called out to the rangers, but suddenly, they countered his attack with a seal of their own. My eyes widened as Morticon took a step back in surprise, his sword literally _frozen _as ice coated it.

"What?" He exclaimed in surprise, and a grin reached my lips as I realized who had given us an extra hand.

"Udonna," I acknowledged the white ranger with a nod, as she came to stand behind the rangers and I.

Shouts of excitement came from the rangers, and soon Nick's voice was heard over them all.

"Let's finish this!" He stated, as the rangers and Udonna reared their weapon. I immediately placed a hand on the megazord's arm, and sent some of my magic into the strike. Both Udonna and the rangers brought their weapons down, and in a bright flash of magic, Morticon was left stumbling, defeated.

"You may have destroyed the mighty Morticon, but the master will prevail!" The monster spoke, and as suddenly as we had struck, the beast exploded, leaving nothing in his wake….


	52. Chapter 52

Shouts of excitement were heard from the rangers and Udonna as they morphed into their human selves, and a cheer of joy escaped my own lips. I felt myself becoming more tired and relieved than excited, though, and came to the conclusion it was due to minor loss of magic.

_Well, summoning a demon horse and defeating a warrior of the Underworld can take a lot out of you…._

I giggled to myself, though, as Catastros reared unexpectedly, and Nick stumbled off his back and onto the ground. From this high up from the earth I couldn't really hear anything, but from the shaking of Nick's fist in the air and the spew of incoherent words coming out of his mouth, I could guess it wasn't anything nice. Never the less, it didn't stop Catastros from galloping away, and disappearing through a portal.

I smiled at my friends as I leaned forwards and rested my elbows on my broom, just relaxing.

_That battle was a close one. More than __**once**__ it was close, and it's only going to get harder from here on out. The whole freaking Underworld is gonna be after us now, and if I want to survive this without almost dying every battle, I'm gonna need to train. Maybe Udonna can help me…_

I sat on my broom, high up in the air, letting my eyes drift where they may, wondering what I could do to improve my stamina. But as my eyes roamed, they drifted across something that made my heart stop for a moment, instilling utter panic in me. Without a second thought, I pushed Junky towards the person on the ground, stumbling towards us.

I reached him in a matter of seconds, just as he was about to cascade to the ground. I quickly drove Junky under my best friend, so I could reach out to catch him, and dismounted my broom to gently settle Adrion on the ground.

"Junky, get Udonna," I commanded my broom, and in a zip, he was gone. I immediately shed my cloak (actually, it was still Adrion's cloak. We hadn't switched back yet from our escapade into the Underworld), and bundled it into a vague, pillow-like shape, and placed it under Adrion's head.

"Adrion, talk to me," I began, looking at my barely-conscious friend, "What happened?"

Big, bright blue eyes opened a crack to meet my gaze, and he gave me no other response. I looked at my best friend, with a mix of worry and panic on my face.

_Oh crap. He doesn't even have enough energy left to __**talk**__…_

I gently bent down and pushed hair out of his face, and I noticed four symmetrical cuts running across his right cheek, caked with dry blood. I gently placed a hand over top of the cuts, and sent magic into my hand to heal it.

"Adrion, what happened? Who did this?" I questioned softly, hiding the mixed emotions clawing at the inside of me. Thunder gently rumbled in the distance, threatening to create a killer storm at any moment. I looked my best friend in the eyes, and noticed how distant they seemed.

_Crap, he's about to lose consciousness….._

I was about to ask him again, but was cut off by the sound of Adrion's weak voice.

"N-Necrolai…." Adrion stated weakly, as his eyes slid closed. My heart stopped for a moment, as I thought about what he'd said, but I soon continued my work on healing all the cuts and bruises I could see. The entire time, I strained to keep my face emotionless, afraid of what might happen if I let my emotions the smallest bit out of line.

_I'd probably start freaking bawling, and I'm not about to let __**that**__ happen…_

I noticed offhandedly, that as my hands worked quickly to heal as many injuries as I could, that the rainclouds that had threatened to roll in had gathered in the sky. Lightly, but surely, rain began to fall, drenching me without my cloak on.

I strained to hear Adrion's breathing over the booming of thunder, and found it to be jagged and irregular.

_Damn it! I've healed all the cuts I can, but there's still something I haven't gotten yet! Udonna, where are you?..._

I knew that I didn't have enough energy to do a search spell, not even a low scale one. So, without thinking about my decision, I quickly placed my hand on Adrion's chest, and pushed magic into his body. I wasn't trying to heal anything, or even search for what might be wrong. I simply pushed magic into his system to give him a boost that would help him out for the next few minutes, until Udonna got here and actually _cured_ him.

I slid my hand off of Adrion's chest, and moved it up to rest on his cheek, gently pushing the hair that was always hanging in his face away. His complexion was unusually pale, but at least now the cuts that had run along his face were gone.

_The cuts that Necrolai made….._

Just thinking of the stupid bat thing made my anger flare, and I struggled to keep it under control. Lightning flashed across the sky, casting shadows on everything. I looked grimly at my best friend's motionless body.

_This is all her fault…..Look what she did to him. She almost killed him!_

The rain poured down more harshly now, hitting me on the back and the top of head with intensity.

_She almost killed him…..She almost took my best friend away from me….again….._

A terrible sadness stabbed at my heart, as I remembered the time when there had been a missing person report on the very boy that lay in front of me. I was so horribly lonely, and I couldn't even begin to _think _how lonely it made my best friend. And it was all because of her.

"It's all because of Necrolai," I mumbled to myself, speaking my thoughts aloud as I leant over the beaten form of Adrion, "It's all because of her that I almost lost you again,"

I knelt there, quietly for a moment, listening to the thunder crash and the raindrops pelt the concrete ground, as the lighting cast eerie shadows across everything it touched.

"But I'm not about to let it happen again," I stated quietly, sadness and determination lacing my voice, "I'm not letting it happen again. I swear, Necrolai….."

I looked up to the dark grey rainclouds looming above me, that were serving as the only conscious witness to my pledge.

"….I _will_ get back at you for this,"

Through the pounding of rain and the crashing of thunder, I managed to hear footsteps scuffle towards me, and soon, Udonna was immediately at the other side of Adrion, and kneeling down on the ground.

"Emma, what happened? Do you know?" Udonna questioned me as she touched a hand to Adrion's chest, and white magic emanated from it.

I turned my emotionless gaze towards her, and spoke one word, my voice monotone and harsh.

"Necrolai,"

A sigh escaped Udonna's lips, as her hands worked quickly to cure my best friend. Everything was quiet except for the storm raging around us, until Udonna stood up, satisfied with her job.

"Rangers, Emma, take Adrion and get back to root core," Udonna spoke, yelling slightly so she could be heard over the gale, "I'm going to retrieve Clare, and we'll meet you back there,"

Udonna disappeared in a fizzle of magic, and nobody spoke as we gently picked Adrion up, and set him on Xander's flying jet ski. I quickly summoned Adrion's cloak (that had been used as a pillow) away, not caring enough about getting drenched to put it back on. I quickly let out a shrill whistle, and Junky was at my side. As I looked towards the other rangers, they were all mounted and ready, so I hopped on Junky as we all headed off towards root core.

The cold rain pelted my body as we flew agonizingly slowly, and close to the ground to avoid being hit with lightning. I scarcely noticed the rain sinking even further into my body, though, but was instead trying to get a grip on my emotions.

Rage surged through me, making me angry and heated even in the cold rain. I wanted nothing more to do than simply kick Necrolai's butt _right now._ I halfway hoped that the stupid thing would show up, and try to attack us again, but realized two things.

One, was that I was in no state to fight. I had kept my use of magic to a minimum today, but didn't even have enough left for the simplest of spells. The lack of magic was making me more and more tired as we flew along at a slow pace.

The second thing I realized was that the Underworld probably wasn't going to mess with us for quite a while. Necrolai could've jumped in after we destroyed Morticon, but didn't. The only reason I could think why was because she was scared, which in turn meant that she wasn't likely to approach us any time soon, nor any other monster of the Underworld.

After finding reason in myself, my anger began to dwindle away. The storm began to let up, and lightning stopped flashing, enabling the rangers and I to fly faster, and higher up. As I looked ahead, I saw we were nearing root core.

_Just because I can't kick Necrolai's butt now, doesn't mean I'm not gonna be ready for her next time. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to train like no other…._

The rangers quickly and gently lifted Adrion off of Xander's jet-ski, and carried him into root core. I followed along behind them, looking to take care of my best friend as soon as we entered the building.

The rangers knew exactly where to put Adrion. It was the room where I ended up almost every time we came back from a major battle. It was a surprise that both Adrion _and_ I weren't unconscious.

I quickly entered the room, and pulled the covers over Adrion, and gently placed a pillow behind his head. I knew that his clothes were wet, and needed to be changed into warm ones, but I didn't love him enough to _change his_ _clothes _for him.

Silence engulfed the room, and the once happy rangers were now incredibly solemn. I looked around at them all, and gave a small smile. I could tell that they didn't want to be weighed down with such a tense atmosphere, and decided to give them a chance to escape.

"Udonna's gonna be here any minute," I spoke up quietly, as what was left of the storm slowly disappeared into the dark night sky, "Why don't you guys wait for her in the main room?"

"But, what about…" Madi spoke up, her voice soft and shy. I gave her another grin.

"He'll be okay," I stated reassuringly, "But I think I'll stay in here, just until Udonna gets back,"

Everyone seemed to agree, and began to file out of the room. I gently let my sore and tired body down into the armchair at the side of the bed, making myself comfortable. As I looked towards the doorway, I noticed that Nick was the only one still standing in the room.

"You gonna be okay?" Nick questioned, his voice soft and calm.

I gave him a tiny smile, and nodded. With slight hesitation, he exited the room, and joined the others.

I leaned back in my seat, and looked at Adrion's limp body.

_This will be the last time you ever lay a hand on one of my friends, Necrolai. Because next time, I'll be ready…_


	53. Chapter 53

I don't remember it, but I must have drifted off to sleep before Udonna even got back. I just remember being so exhausted by a day and a half straight of fighting the Underworld, nonstop.

_Pschhh, yeah. And I used to think that 15 hours of working at Starbucks was tiring….._

I didn't really dream about anything, either. It was sort of strange, like I was just lingering on the line between wide awake and deep sleep. Like I couldn't make up my mind, and that I wasn't really sleeping, but merely napping. Soon, I began to grow irritated with not being able to fall asleep, and pried my eyes open.

The first thing I was aware of, was an aching in my back. Apparently, it was from sleeping (or as close to the achievement as I could get) in an armchair, with half my body bent awkwardly in the chair, and half of my body hanging off of it.

I let out a small groan as I sat up, and subconsciously rubbed my sore shoulder.

_It probably just hurts from being so sore yesterday. I still need to ask Udonna why it does that….._

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me, I could see a lump lying in the bed in front of me. Last night came back to me, and as I listened to the lump's soft breathing, hauled myself out of the chair, and to the bathroom of root core.

_I promised myself I would train so that THIS wouldn't happen again. It's time to put my plan into action…._

I closed and locked the bathroom door shut behind me, and jumped into the shower, all the time thinking of what I could do to improve on my magical and sword fighting skills.

_My magic seems to be okay right about now, and I can ask Udonna to help me train later. Right now, I'll just worry about my combat skills…_

I mulled over ideas for strength and agility as I began getting ready for the day, finally throwing on a pair of athletic shorts, a cut-off t-shirt, tennis shoes, and my hoodie for good measure, as well as throwing my now-wet-from-the-shower hair in a messy bun.

_It seems that a lot of the time, I get overpowered, or I'm not quick enough in battle. So I should probably work on my muscle and stamina…_

I summoned my iPod in a familiar flash of grey magic, and looked at the date and time.

**Saturday, July 2**

**5:29**

The date and time on my iPod shone clearly, and I grinned to myself as I exited the bathroom, turning off the lights after me, and walking quietly through the halls of root core.

_I know where I'm going to work out at…_

I tiptoed through the main room, being well aware that the rangers were all in there, and sound asleep in their sleeping bags. Xander's snores and Vida's sleep-talking alerted me of the rangers presence well before I entered the room.

Quickly and quietly, I exited root core, and continued out into the forest, teleporting myself through the nearest tree.

In a flash of light, I appeared next to a tree in downtown Briarwood. Things were pretty much quiet, except for the rattle and hum of the occasional passing car. I practically _skipped_ to the shop nearest the tree I had just teleported through, and flung the door open as I stepping inside the coffee joint.

"Hey Julian!" I greeted the cashier with a smile, as the boy's head snapped up at the sound of my entering the store, "The usual, please,"

"Emma!" Julian exclaimed, a smile alighting onto his face as well, "Good to see ya! Haven't seen ya around in a while. It gets lonely around here, with nobody crazy enough to get up before 5:30 and all,"

I laughed a little at my friend, as he poured a cup of coffee into a foam cup, securely placing a lid on top of it.

"Please," I scoffed at him, as a teasing smile came onto my face, "You have all the wonderful coffee pots and foam cups to keep you company, what more could you ask for?"

Julian rolled his eyes at me, but smiled all the same.

"Yeah, yeah, hardy har har, here's your coffee," He replied, placing the cup in front of me, "Extra strong, just how you like it,"

I grinned as I pulled my wallet out of my pocket, and handed him the exact change, grinning.

"Aww, you're the best Julian," I responded, as I turned and made my way to the coffee fixings station, made my coffee, and sat down at a table in the corner of the shop.

As soon as Julian's back as turned, I quickly summoned my sketch book and a pen, and proceeded on doodling the next hour and fifteen minutes away….

….

"See ya, Julian!" I called out to the cashier, as I picked up my drawing pad, discarded the foam cup that my coffee used to reside in, and made my way towards the door.

"Bye Emma, come back soon," Julian responded, giving me a smile and a wave, as the glass doors shut. I turned to face the sidewalk, and made my way towards my favorite bench. As I reached it though, I passed it, and continued on towards the basketball courts.

Upon reaching them, I set my stuff down near a familiar duffel bag marked "JO-JO'S", shook my coat off, and stepped onto the court.

I walked towards the girl standing in the middle of the court stretching, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Got room for one more man?" I asked, grinning widely as a smile stretched onto her face as well, and realization reached her eyes.

"Emma! Welcome Back!" Jo-Jo exclaimed, throwing her arms around me in a quick hug, then pulling back to sling an arm around my shoulders, "Hey fellas! Look who showed up!"

An uncomfortable smile stretched onto my face as the guys on the court turned to look at me, but it soon disappeared, and a cheery smile took its place as a chorus of "hey"s, "Yo"s, "Hi!"s, "'sup"s, and nods were sent around.

"Haven't seen you in a while, shortcake! Where ya been?" Cam (or at least I think that's what his name was) inquired, with a smile, as we all split up into teams. The same teams we were on last time, I'm pretty sure.

"Nowhere, really. Just at work," I replied, a smile on my face as we all huddled into our groups, "And don't call me 'shortcake',"

For the next forty minutes, we had our scrimmage. Passes were snapped from teammate to teammate, shots were made (and missed), and we never stopped running up and down the court. Naturally, since there were no referees, no fouls or violations were called, resulting in my ending up on the ground multiple times.

By the time we had finished and had sprawled out with our backs on the concrete, floor burns littered my elbows, knees, and even on the _palms of my hands_.

_Man, these guys don't hold back…..I like it!_

"Hey, shortcake," One of the guys called out, and I sat up from my laying position on the court to look at him. David, I think his name was, Jo-Jo's brother.

"Yeah?" I replied, sounding somewhat exasperated. I had told them _before_! My name was EMMA, not SHORTCAKE. Still, they insisted on calling me by the nickname created by them all.

_It makes me sound so GIRLY…..ew._

"What grade are you in?" He questioned innocently, dark brown eyes looking at me with curiosity. I hesitated for a moment before giving him an answer, thinking it through.

_Well, when I was kidnapped by Necrolai, it was October of my eleventh grade year. Wow, what a crazy way to skip exams! Since it's summer in this dimension, I guess that would make me …._

"I'm a senior," I responded, and a smile alit onto his face.

"That's great!" He replied, excitement evident on his face, "You're going to Briarwood High, right?"

I hesitated before nodding again.

"Then you should try out for the school's co-ed basketball team this year!" David continued, and several of the other guys and Jo-Jo nodded their heads in agreement, the smiles spreading, "Most of us will be on it, Jo-Jo too,"

"Yeah!"

"Why not?"

"Sounds great!"

"We're gonna dominate this year!"

"Especially with little Shortcake on our team!"

I smiled at the round of excitement rippling through the group of basketball players, and just couldn't resist them, even if they were still calling me _Shortcake._

_Eh, what the heck….._

"Count me in," I responded with a grin, then stood from my position on the ground, and heading towards my drawing pad and pencil. More excitement was heard from the group behind me.

"See ya next time, boys!" I called to them, and waved at Jo-Jo as I walked towards the Porium.

"See you at school!" Jo-Jo called to me, and I grinned as I turned around.

_Yeah, see you at school, if I can live through the freaking summer without being demolished by Necrolai….or The Master…..or Koragg…. or overuse of magic, for that matter. Why did I make a promise to be there if I don't know if I can keep it?..._

I looked down at the sidewalk as I made my way towards work, my feet knowing where to take me by instinct.

_Well, I guess I'll just have to fight through whatever the Underworld throws at me. I don't wanna miss out on that co-ed basketball team…_

I smiled at my somewhat sarcastic thinking, and before I knew it, I was entering the Porium.

"Good morning, Emma," Xander greeted me politely, as I set my drawing pad and pen down on the counter. I picked up my work shirt from the coat rack, and headed towards the bathroom to change.

"Morning, Xander," I replied, and threw in a smile for the tired Aussie, and closed the bathroom door behind me. With the wave of my hand, a mumbled spell, and a familiar flash of grey magic, I exited the bathroom in a fresh pair of clothes, and quickly threw my work shirt on over top.

I immediately headed towards my drawing pad, knowing that if I didn't want prying hands (mostly that of children who came into the store) to touch my drawing book, I would need to hide it. I quickly waved my hand when I was sure no one was looking, and summoned it away in a fizzle of magic. I settled down for what seemed like was going to be a long day at work…

TA-DA! :D the basketball dudes are BACK! X3 hope yo liked it. Oh, and did anyone notice the NEW STORY COVER?! :DDD Eh? Eh? No one? Y_Y I worked very hard on that, and it took me two hours on Paint! Q_Q So, i hope you like that as well. XD till next time!


	54. Chapter 54

"Good morning, Chip," I greeted the yellow ranger as he entered the store, who yawned, and gave me a weary smile.

"Hey, Emma," He replied, and continued on his way to the 'COMICS' section of the store.

A few moments later, the door opened again, and in walked the blue and pink rangers. The pink ranger looking especially….._ grouchy_ this morning.

_Man, EVERYONE'S tired today. It must be from yesterday….._

"Hey everyone," Madi greeted us, a small, tired smile on her face. We all replied with our respective answers, and I saw Xander give Vida a sneaky, sideways glance from his favorite red armchair positioned in the center of the store.

_What's he-_

"Why, good morning Vida!" Xander exclaimed, jumping out of his chair, wearing a ridiculous smile as he bounded towards the pink ranger, "You're looking exceptionally _bright _this morning!"

Vida grumbled something under her breath, no doubt some type of obscenity, and pushed the green ranger out of her way, heading towards her DJ-ing stand.

Xander grinned to himself.

"I just love annoying her in the mornings," He spoke, and I rolled my eyes at him, but none the less smiled.

I rested my head on my folded arms as I waited for the first couple of customers to start dwindling into the store, and had nearly dozed off to sleep, when a familiar voice reached my ears.

"Hey, Emma?"

I looked up, surprised at who I saw.

"Hey, David," I replied, as the tall, brown-haired basketball player shyly made his way over to the counter that I was sitting at, "What brings you here?"

He timidly scratched the back of his neck, as a slight blush covered his face.

"You mentioned working here once," He started, and I noticed that he held something in his hand, "And you kinda forgot this, so I figured that instead of waiting until next practice, I'd just return it to you now,"

David stretched his arm out, and gently placed my hoodie on my lap.

"You left it next to Jo-Jo's bag," He explained, and a smile erupted onto my face.

"Aw, thanks David," I responded, smiling widely at him, "I really appreciate it,"

He blushed again, and suddenly Xander spoke up as he walked towards the counter.

"Hi, mate," He spoke up, friendly and inquiring as always, "I'm Xander, Emma's friend,"

"Nice to meet you," David greeted him, shaking his hand.

_Xander, what are you doing?..._

"So how did you two know each other?" The Australian questioned him, and David stuttered for a moment.

"W-well, Emma and I play basketball together," The boy replied, hoping the answer would be enough to satisfy Xander. By now, the rest of the rangers were listening in as well.

"Oh," Chip spoke up, as he leaned against a rack of comics, "_Just the two of you, _huh?"

We all erupted into laughter (well, NERVOUS laughter on David's part), and Chip came grinning towards us.

"I'm just messing with ya!" The red head exclaimed, enthusiastically grabbing David's hand and shaking it vigorously, "I'm Chip, by the way. Another friend of Emma's!"

One by one, the rangers made their way towards us and introduced themselves to him. Well, almost everyone.

_I wonder where Nick is. He never comes in this late….._

"Well, it was great meeting you all," David spoke, a smile on his face and his voice soft, "But I really should be going. I'll see you guys later,"

Choruses of good-byes were sent around, and David began to make his way to the door as the rangers dispersed.

"Bye, Emma. You're coming next time, too, right?" David asked me shyly, and it took me a moment to realize that he was talking about basketball practice.

"Of course I'll be there, David," I replied, smiling at him. A sweet smile cracked onto his own face as well.

"Alright. See you then," He replied, as he walked smiling out the door.

"Bye!" I called, smile still on my face.

_What a goofy kid…_

I made my way over to the coat rack, and hung my hoodie up.

_It was really sweet of him to bring my hoodie all the way over here, though…._

I made my way over to the counter again, as customers began to finally dwindle in.

"You got yourself a keeper, Emma!" Vida joked, and we laughed.

_Wow, David put EVERYONE in a good mood…._

"You're real funny, Vida," I retorted, and she just winked at me and walked away.

"Hey, Em,"

I turned my head at the familiar voice, and a grin cracked onto my face.

"Morning, Nick," I greeted him, as the first customer came to the cash register.

…**. NICK P.O.V. ….**

I walked down the busy streets to get to work. It would have been just as easy to use the trees, but I needed time to think about everything that had been going on.

A lot of stuff had happened in the past few days.

One of the things that had really been bothering me was the fact that this battle had lasted for several days.

_I wonder if the Underworld is getting stronger, and that's why it took us longer to defeat them….._

The thought sent concern coursing through me, and although that was on my list of things to worry about, I found myself worrying more about a _specific person_ more than _the fate of the world_.

The specific person namely being ….. Emma.

I traced my thoughts all the way back to the start of the battle, when Udonna had called us to the city plaza to stop Necrolai. I never would have imagined that she'd gotten stronger, not to mention more annoying.

If that was even possible. She was pretty annoying as it was.

There were two things that really stuck out to me from that battle.

The first, was what Necrolai had commented about Emma.

"_Don't you silly rangers know the difference between good and bad company?"_

I could almost feel the anger radiate from Emma as the words came out of Necrolai's mouth. What** I** couldn't get was why Emma took it so personally all the time. The rest of us knew she wasn't evil. Udonna knows she isn't evil. So why does it bother her so much?

The second, was why she acted like she did. Heck, why she acted like she _always_ does! So…..so reckless all the time!

I found myself practically scowling _just thinking_ of it as I continued down the bustling streets.

I couldn't understand why she showed such concern for everyone else, in and out of battle, but had no regards to herself.

It was frustrating the shit out of me.

It didn't help that she did that throughout the entire battle, which just fueled my frustration. And she had that horrible habit of not speaking up when she was hurt.

I practically groaned in frustration, but was soon led on to another thought.

When I had woken up at root core, after I'd passed out in the battle with Necroali, I was surprised to find Emma asleep in the armchair next to the bed.

The bed that normally held _Emma_ on top of it, instead of me.

And the armchair she was sleeping in had so often been _my_ spot at her side, though I would never admit to it.

How ironic.

After learning that Emma had been so reckless to try and take on Necrolai (with her new powers), _by herself, injured, and almost depleted of energy, _I became almost panic-stricken, although I tried not to show it. Was she going to be ok?

I also learned from the other rangers that Emma had stepped up into the leader position in my absence. I felt relieved at this information, glad that someone could take my place when I was gone and lead the team.

But my relief was short lived, seeing as though nobody could wake Emma up.

_That girl will be the death of me….._

When she'd finally woken up, I was so happy to see those iridescent grey eyes look up at me. The first words out of her mouth:

"_Oh! You're alive," _

She really _does_ confuse me.

So, naturally, the first thing _**I **_did was begin to lecture her about not being careful enough. I mean, I wasn't even conscious at the time of her recklessness! I couldn't jump in there and save her!

But my rant was cut short as Emma retorted back to me.

"_What was I supposed to do? Just lay there and watch Necrolai murder everyone?"_

_Damn, she really knows how to stop me in my tracks, doesn't she?..._

Then it happened….

"Good morning, ma'am," I greeted her with a smile, taking the record from her and scanning, then bagging it, "Did you find everything ok?"

_Man, I say the same thing to all these people EVERY DAY. It gets kinda boring after a while…_

I quickly sent the next few customers out the door with their purchases, as Nick got settled in.


	55. Chapter 55

…**NICK P.O.V. (he's still reviewing the battle from the last couple chapters) …**

Pain spiked through my head as Koragg contacted me. It wasn't until I opened my eyes that I was concerned.

Emma was holding a hand to her head as well, brows furrowed, and eyes shut tight. Koragg had contacted her, too.

He'd even _addressed_ her as the Storm! I heard him. Why didn't she tell us about this?

There was really no time to argue about it, seeing as though we needed to get Udonna back, and now _Claire_ had to fight the Wolf Warrior.

_I'll ask her about it later….._

The next thing that I remembered most from our battle, was this. Originally, when we got into the Underworld, I was supposed to go with the rescue team, not Emma. But as the last fight's outcome ran through my head, I couldn't do it.

_I can't leave her again. I know she can fend for herself pretty well, but she always manages to get into trouble. I don't want it to be like the last battle, where I wasn't there to save her….._

So, I went with her. I was surprised at how comfortable she glided through the hallways, looking almost like she belonged here with Koragg and Necrolai.

But I wasn't about to tell _her _that.

We finally reached what I assumed was the arena, and I was ordered to stay out of the way.

I managed to do just that, and keep Emma in sight, until a yell broke the air.

"EMMA!"

Suddenly, a big, blue, furry…. MONSTER-THING, tackled Emma, and I couldn't help myself any more. I dashed over to save her.

Which, actually, she didn't need me to do, seeing as though it was one of her old friends.

_Ya could've mentioned it, Em..._

We were in hot water now. We needed a distraction soon, AND my cover was blown. WONDERFUL.

"Who's he?"

…...crap.

"My boyfriend!"

I looked at Emma, and could tell by the look she was giving me that she wanted me to play along.

Granted, I would've played along even if she _hadn't_ given me the look, but that's beside the point.

I quickly slid my arm around her waist, grinning. She did likewise, but with much more effort and discomfort. I could tell she was tense, but it seemed as though she didn't know what to do with a "boyfriend".

"Met her up on the surface," I told him, hoping that my story was believable, "It was love at first bite. You know how it is,"

I could practically see Emma's blush deepen as I spoke, and Logan nodded, totally buying my story.

I was about to go on, but was cut off by a roaring voice.

"Well, well, well, looks who's back," The familiar voice taunted, as I turned towards it, "The little vampire,"

"You mean the little vampire who kicked your ass? Yeah, she's back,"

…..and _this_ is why she gets into trouble so often. As I took a sideways glance at her and the mischievous smile stretched across her face, I knew she was just trying to pick a fight with the monster. But what had she meant when she said that she'd kicked his-

"I demand a re-match!"

…. A re-match_. OF COURSE_ Emma would pick a fight while she was in the Underworld. But as the monster swung it's scepter to point at her, instincts kicked in as I protectively stepped in front of her.

I glared at the monster. As long as I was here, I might as well make the distraction instead of Emma. Maybe it'd keep her out of trouble.

Well, maybe it'd keep her out of _more trouble_ than she was already in.

"Oh, look! The little vampire brat has a boyfriend! How sweet," The monster retorted, and some of the crowd around us (that had cleared out to make a circle upon instinct) laughed.

Before I could stop her, Emma had stepped in front of me, determination on her face.

"_Please_! The only girl who ever liked _you_ was your _mother_**,**"

That did it for the monster. He was ready to fight now, and Emma had successfully baited him into it. I found panic rising in my chest as Emma began to walk into the middle of the circle, and I quickly grabbed her wrist.

She looked at me like she didn't know what I was about to say. After all the lectures, all the warnings, everything I'd ever told her, she should've expected it.

_"_Just….. be careful, ok?"

…_..LAME. Great job, Nick! That was really inspiring…_

I guess I was so caught up in my worry, I didn't notice Logan and Torrid watching us closely.

_Man, they're like her older brothers or something. Do they HAVE to watch us like that?..._

_"_I got it, babe, don't worry,"

…..I totally wasn't expecting that. I looked at Emma confusedly, and was even more confused at her grin. In fact, I was starting to get a little freaked out by her behavior.

Not that I really minded much.

It took me a minute to realize that Logan and Torrid were watching us, but when I did, an idea sparked in my head.

Quickly, and before she had time to react, I grabbed her hand with my left, lacing my fingers with hers, then slipped my right hand behind her neck. Without hesitation, I smashed my lips onto hers.

I could tell that she was taken by surprise, but that didn't hinder _me _from enjoying the kiss.

I decided not to make it last for too long (who knows what Emma would've done to me had I tried to make out with her), and softly broke the kiss. Before Emma had time to react (or start hitting me and blow our cover), I spun her around and pushed her into the middle of the circle.

The fight started abruptly, and I found myself watching with worry as Emma took some harsh hits, but the monster took more.

My morpher beeped at my side, and I knew Emma had gotten a message, too. I just wasn't prepared for what came next.

_I knew we're supposed to make a distraction, but how are we supposed to get out of the Underworld?..._

It looked like Emma had it planned out, though, and I was taken by surprise as she let off a final attack. For a brief moment, as she piled the magic onto her palm, it looked like some sort of _ink _was there, instead of magic.

Quickly, as the monster sprinted towards her, scepter raised, Emma let the attack go, and inky black darkness filled the room.

"Nick? Nick! Where are you?"

Soon, we found each other amidst the darkness, and got the heck out of there. As soon as we were back on the surface, we headed towards Claire.

But, seeing as though Adrion had stolen Emma's broom once again, She had no other choice but to ride on the back of _my _vehicle.

Not that I minded _that _either.

"Is this thing safe?" She asked me nervously, as she slid onto the back of it and it rose off the ground.

_"No safer than your broom,"_ I responded, grinning, and zipped off. Surprised, she quickly wrapped her arms around me, and held on for dear life.

_I'll have to thank Adrion for taking her broom….._

I was even _more_ surprised at Emma burying her face in my back halfway to Claire.

_She isn't __** really **__scared….right?…._

As we reached Claire, I could see what kind of position she was in. Koragg loomed over her, sword raised, ready to strike.

My original plan had been to run my vehicle into Koragg, but I could see we were going to get there too late.

_Crap! What do I do?!..._

Suddenly, as I swooped down towards Koragg, I saw Emma _leap i_nto the side of him.

…Wouldn't it have been just as easy to throw your daggers or something? Maybe my magi-staff?

I didn't dwell on it, though, and made my way towards Necrolai and Claire.

I tried to help Claire, and managed to fight Necrolai long enough for her to get away, but soon enough Necrolai had thrown me halfway across the concrete ground, and had retrieved Claire. I struggled to get up, but I was too late. Necrolai had already started to raise the gates.

Her new powers _suck._

Necrolai brusquely flew off, and I stumbled towards the fight going on between Emma and Koragg. Claire also happened to be laying there, but, again, I was too late.

Koragg jerked Claire to her feet, and sent his Wolf attack at Emma as they sunk through a symbol , sending Emma flying back into me.

Upon instinct, I wrapped my arms around her as we flew backwards, and my grip didn't falter as I collided with the ground.

The wind was harshly knocked out of me, and I let out a groan at the pain radiating through my back.

"That was one crazy attack," I spoke, rolling onto my side so that Emma and I were face-to-back on the ground, my arms still around her, "You ok?"

I expected her to say something along the lines of, "Of course I'm ok!" and push herself away from me, but she didn't. She didn't even _respond_ to me.

"Em?" I asked again, and what felt like a million pounds seemed to sit in the pit of my stomach. I leaned up to look at her, but I froze in shock as she coughed up blood.

I sat frozen for a moment longer, before snapping myself out of it. I quickly laid Emma on her back, pulled her hood down, and rested her head on my arm so I could keep her propped up. I quickly whipped out my morpher, and called the first person to come up. Xander.

"Guys, where are you? I need Udonna here _now_."

"What's wrong, mate?"

"It's Emma, she's….."

_She's dying…._

The words sent a torrent of emotions through me, all of them seeming to build up into my chest.

"She's….Something's wrong with her, I don't know what to do,"

"Maddy says to use the healing spell. We'll get there as fast as we can. Just use the spell "Cura", mate,"

"Ok, I can do that. Get here fast,"

I snapped morpher shut, and looked down at Emma. I didn't know how to heal someone! It's something I've never done before. I was always the _fighter_. The one _being_ healed. What if I did it wrong?

_There's no time to think about it now. I just have to do it….._

Gently, I placed my hand on her stomach- what I figured was the center point of the body, since I didn't know where she was hurt- and uncertainly said the spell.

"Uh, Cura?"

I could feel my magic move out of my body, but it didn't seem to do any good. She still didn't wake up.

_She….. she's not really going to die….. is she?..._

For one of the few times in my life, I felt terrified. One of the people I cared about the most, was dying.

Out of all the times Emma had been in danger, out of all the times she'd almost died, was this really where it was going to end?

I just wanted to see her open her eyes.

I wanted her to jump up, summon her daggers, and say something like "_What the hell are you doing sitting down?! We have an Underworld to fight, remember?" _

I wanted to help her, like all the times she'd helped me.

_This _was the reason why I'd tried to stick close to her in the Underworld. So _this_ wouldn't happen. I had thought that maybe if I stuck close enough to her, I'd be able to help her, to save her, to be there when she needed me.

Yet, here she was, cradled in my arms, and _dying_.

Oh, and that million pounds in the pit of my stomach I mentioned earlier, just got a million pounds heavier…..

...So many feels. TT_TT This was just to give you guys a Nick P.O.V. for what was some of my favorite chapters. And I'm really sorry for the long waits. School starts tomorrow for me, and I'm uber-stressed. I had to go school shopping, and then my parents were all like "Let's have a family date! ^_^ ". Don't get me wrong, I love my family more than almost anything, but I'm just so stressed. (=_= ;) And If you're still reading this rant, you freaking ROCK. I dunno if you're bored, or if you actually care about my life issues. But either way, you read my story. So YOU ROCK. :') Anyways, I guess I'll talk to you guys later. Love ya. :)

~Nobody


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